Photos of the Day: Explore JPL...

Just thought I'd end this month with these photos that I took at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) annual open house near Pasadena, California on May 18. This marked the third time this year that I visited JPL (the first time being for a public tour back in February, and the second time being for a NASA Social event held in March), so there's really nothing new to share here. (But continue reading, anyway!) Obviously, you have the flight hardware for the Mars 2020 rover on display inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF), you have a glimpse of "The Center of the Universe" inside the Space Flight Operations Facility, you have cool snapshots of full-size replicas of the Curiosity and Mars Exploration Rovers in the main courtyard, and you have interesting exhibits pertaining to NASA's search for more (and potentially habitable) exoplanets. Actually, that last one is new to me!



I'm thinking about going back to JPL later this year (to check out the Mars 2020 rover one last time before it's shipped to its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida next January or February), but this might be the last time for a while that I visit this cool NASA field center. By the time the next Explore JPL is held next May or June, the Mars 2020 spacecraft will already be on the other side of the country—getting prepped for its July launch to the Red Planet aboard an Atlas V rocket. JPL might be building a neat science instrument or a spacecraft that I haven't heard of at the SAF once Mars 2020 is gone, but I'd rather return to see another high-profile interplanetary space probe undergo construction near the city of Pasadena. That robotic probe I have in mind is none other than the Europa Clipper! But we'll see if the Clipper is even built at JPL, and its launch won't be till 2023 (and the rocket that will send it to Jupiter hasn't been selected yet)...so there are still ways to go before assembly officially begins on this Jovian explorer. Happy Friday.

QueSST Update: Construction Is Set to Begin on NASA's Newest X-Plane...

Lockheed Martin

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Technology Project Passes Major Milestone (Press Release - November 19)

NASA has officially committed to a development timeline that will lead to the first flight of its X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft in just three years.

This critical milestone comes after a rigorous review, Key Decision Point-C (KDP-C), that confirmed NASA’s continued support of the X-59, in terms of funding, and established an achievable development timeline for NASA’s first piloted, full-size X-plane in more than three decades.

“This aircraft has the potential to transform aviation in the United States and around the world by making faster-than-sound air travel over land possible for everyone,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “We can’t wait to see this bird fly!”

KDP-C commits NASA to the full X-59 development effort through flight-testing in 2021. The cost and schedule commitments outlined in KDP-C align the project with program management best practices that account for potential technical risks and budgetary uncertainty beyond the project’s control.

“This is a monumental milestone for the project,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics. “I’m extremely proud of the team for its hard work getting to this point, and we all look forward to watching this aircraft take shape and then take flight.”

The X-59 QueSST is shaped to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump, if it’s heard at all. The supersonic aircraft will be flown above select U.S. communities to measure public perception of the noise – data that will help regulators establish new rules for commercial supersonic air travel over land.

Management of X-59 QueSST development falls under the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project, part of the Integrated Aviation Systems Program in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

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NASA Selects a Contractor to Build Its Next Generation X-Plane...

NASA / Lockheed Martin

NASA Awards Contract to Build Quieter Supersonic Aircraft (Press Release)

NASA has taken another step toward re-introducing supersonic flight with the award Tuesday of a contract for the design, building and testing of a supersonic aircraft that reduces a sonic boom to a gentle thump.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company of Palmdale, California, was selected for the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration contract, a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract valued at $247.5 million. Work under the contract began April 2 and runs through Dec. 31, 2021.

Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will complete the design and fabrication of an experimental aircraft, known as an X-plane, which will cruise at 55,000 feet at a speed of about 940 mph and create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB), instead of a sonic boom.

Once NASA accepts the aircraft from the contractor in late 2021, the agency will perform additional flight tests to prove the quiet supersonic technology works as designed, aircraft performance is robust, and it’s safe to operate in the National Airspace System.

Beginning in mid-2022, NASA will fly the X-plane over select U.S. cities and collect data about community responses to the flights. This data set will be provided to U.S. and international regulators for their use in considering new sound-based rules regarding supersonic flight over land, which could enable new commercial cargo and passenger markets in faster-than-sound air travel.

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Sonic Booms and Unmanned Drones: What an Awesome Day at Edwards AFB!

Earlier today, I attended a NASA Social event at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in Edwards Air Force Base, California. I haven't been to a NASA-hosted social media gathering since December of 2014...when I drove down to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena to celebrate the maiden launch of Orion on Exploration Flight Test 1. This is my third Social since the NASA Tweetup I went to in June of 2011...which also took place at JPL and celebrated the then-impending launch of the Curiosity Mars rover.



Today's event was devoted to learning about how the noise level of sonic booms can be reduced to avoid causing disruption in populated areas...and applying this knowledge to an experimental aircraft that NASA is planning to build, known as the Low Boom Flight Demonstration Quiet Supersonic Transport—or QueSST. During the Social, we stood outside at one point and watched as an F/A-18 Hornet performed several so-called “low-boom dive maneuvers” to demonstrate different sonic boom intensities. The F/A-18 then did a low flyover near our area so we could get some cool snapshots and video footage of the jet before it landed.



Afterwards, we walked over to various hangars that housed other aircraft being used by AFRC, such as two F-15 Eagles, a Gulfstream III aircraft, as well as the Ikhana Predator B (which I also learned about during the NASA Social in December of 2014) and RQ-4 Global Hawk drones. The twin Solid Rocket Boosters that will be transported to the California Science Center to be mated with shuttle fuel tank ET-94 and orbiter Endeavour in 2018 were at a hangar nearby, but visiting these wasn't on today's itinerary so we were unable to check them out. Oh well.



I'm currently on the waiting list to attend another NASA Social at JPL during the Independence Day weekend (on July 3-4, specifically). Hopefully, I'll be able to get selected for the event if one of the confirmed attendees drops out. This Social is commemorating the arrival of NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter on July 4...and I want to be at JPL's Space Flight Operations Facility (a.k.a. mission control) to witness this event unfold in person! Carry on.

LINK: Photos I took at the May 2016 NASA Social

Celebrating Orion's Big Moment...

NASA

Just thought I'd share these photos that were taken during yesterday's NASA Social event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California. Around 40 lucky social media users including myself had the privilege of watching presentations pertaining to today's (scrubbed) launch attempt for the Orion spacecraft...which is set to make its first flight into space and set America back on the path of sending astronauts beyond Earth's atmosphere from U.S. soil. Along with learning about Orion's mission, dubbed Exploration Flight Test 1, we also got to take a tour of JPL facilities (I never get tired of these)—such as the Space Flight Operations Facility, the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (where a second version of NASA's "flying saucer," also known as the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, is being assembled) and the In-Situ Instrument Laboratory (where an engineering model for the now-in-construction InSight Mars lander resides). I should've went back to JPL this morning to watch on TV Orion's splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after a flawless flight from Florida, but it's all good. All that matters is that the capsule destined to take us to Mars one day sees the vacuum of space by the end of this weekend. Carry on.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2014 Orion NASA Social

JPL TWEETUP... Last Monday, I attended a special event at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California, that was held for around 110 lucky folks who were invited via Twitter to go to JPL. During the Tweetup, we listened to presentations held by NASA engineers and scientists who were working on past and present deep space projects such as Voyager, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Dawn, GRAIL and the Juno mission. At the end of the day, we got to go to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility to see the Curiosity Mars rover (which is undergoing final testing before being shipped out to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida around June 22 for launch preparations). All-in-all, it was a great experience. To see more photos from the JPL Tweetup, click on the red link below.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2011 JPL Tweetup