Dream Chaser nears piloted tests
On Oct. 26, 2013, Sierra Nevada Corporation put their Dream Chaser engineering test article through its first free flight Approach and Landing Test, or ALT-1, at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California. The important flight test, a first since the late 1970s with NASA’s space shuttle test article Enterprise, performed flawlessly up until …
Skyborne with the 920th Rescue Wing
The 920th Rescue Wing, based out of Patrick Air Force Base, serves as an Air Force Reserve Command combat-search-and-rescue unit. They are responsible for a variety of demanding missions and ready to deploy at a moments notice, trained to perform some of the most highly specialized operations in the Air Force. They’ve been the primary rescue force serving as “guardians of the astronauts” for 50 years, providing contingency response for a variety of emergencies that could potentially come up during a Space Shuttle launch or landing. These airmen and their elite team of Pararescuemen, known as PJ’s, are among the most highly trained emergency trauma specialists in the U.S. military, capable of performing life-saving missions anywhere in the world, at any time.
Never ending journey: Voyager spacecraft still making discovery near boundary of solar system
For more than thirty years, a pair of twin NASA spacecraft have been on an epic journey through the solar system. A journey that is arguably one of the greatest adventures in the history of mankind. They have travelled farther than any man-made objects ever have, and will soon leave our cosmic neighborhood and become …