Space Technology

Payload Fairings
Fairings recovery. Credits: SpaceX
Space Technology / SpaceX

Payload Fairings

The payload fairing is the equipment used to protect the spacecraft and the third stage during the early portion of the boost phase when the aerodynamic forces from the atmosphere could affect the rocket. It is almost always in form of the nose cone at the top of the rocket that protects the spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere. An additional function on some flights is to maintain the clean room…

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July 11, 2021
Octaweb Structure
Engines are placed at offset. The smaller black holes is for the gas generator exhaust. Credits: SpaceX
Rocket Science / Space Technology / SpaceX

Octaweb Structure

Merlin engines are arranged in an Octaweb Structure. ‘Octa’ means eight and ‘web’ structure as it depicts radiating lines from center. The Octaweb is a metal structure that supports eight engines surrounding a center engine at the base of the launch vehicle.  Falcon 9 v1.0 and v1.1 engine. Credits: Craigboy/Wikipedia What is its purpose? The short answer is: stability. The Octaweb also reduces the length and weight of the Falcon 9 thrust structure, simplifying the rocket’s design and assembly. Streamlining the…

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July 10, 2021
Merlin Engines powering Falcon 9
Single Merlin engine under test conditions. Credits: SpaceX
Famous Rockets / Rocket Science / Space Technology

Merlin Engines powering Falcon 9

Falcon 9 is powered by Merlin engine. It has the highest thrust to weight ratio of any boost engine ever made, while still maintaining the structural and thermal safety margins needed to carry astronauts. Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for sea recovery and reuse. Propellants are fed via a single shaft, dual impeller turbopump. The turbopump also provides high-pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators, which…

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July 10, 2021
Wernher von Braun: Apollo Architect
Wernher von Braun after surrendering to U.S. forces German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun (with arm in cast) and his brother Magnus (second from right) after surrendering to U.S. forces, May 2, 1945. MSFC/NASA
Reknowned People / Space Exploration / Space Technology

Wernher von Braun: Apollo Architect

Wernher von Braun was a German engineer who played a prominent role in all aspects of rocketry and space exploration, first in Germany and after World War II in the United States. He designed and developed the German V-2 rocket and was the Chief Architect of the Saturn V rocket, designed primarily for the Apollo Space Missions. Dr. Wernher von Braun Photo credits: NASA As a youth, he became enamored with the possibilities of space exploration by reading the work of…

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July 8, 2021
Katherine Johnson: The Human Computer
Katherine Johnson (2008). Photo credits: NASA
Reknowned People / Space Probes / Space Technology

Katherine Johnson: The Human Computer

"Katherine G. Johnson refused to be limited by society's expectations of her gender and race while expanding the boundaries of humanity's reach."President Obama Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician who calculated and analyzed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her more than three decades with the U.S. space program. Her work helped send astronauts to the Moon. She calculated the precise trajectories that would let Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969 and, after Neil Armstrong’s history-making moonwalk, let…

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July 8, 2021
Tipu Sultan & The World’s First War Rocket
A painting showing the British forces confronted with Mysorean rockets
Famous Rockets / Reknowned People / Space Technology

Tipu Sultan & The World’s First War Rocket

It is far better to live like a lion for a day then to live like a jackal for hundred years.Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan, also known as Tipu Sahab or the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India and a pioneer of rocket artillery. Tippu was instructed in military tactics by French officers in the employ of his father, Hyder Ali, who was the Muslim ruler of Mysore. In 1767 Tippu commanded a…

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July 7, 2021
Pedro Paulet: Peruvian Space Age Pioneer
Pedro Paulet, padre de la Aeronaútica Moderna
Reknowned People / Space Exploration / Space Technology

Pedro Paulet: Peruvian Space Age Pioneer

Pedro Eleodoro Paulet Mostajo (July 2, 1874 – January 30, 1945) was a Peruvian diplomat who allegedly in 1895 was the first person to build a liquid-propellant rocket engine and, in 1900, the first person to build a modern rocket propulsion system. German V-2 inventor Wernher von Braun considered Paulet one of the "fathers of aeronautics." Pedro Paulet, padre de la Aeronaútica Moderna The first practical working liquid propellant rocket motor was claimed by Paulet in1895. He operated a conical motor,…

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July 7, 2021
Robert Goddard: 1st Liquid-Fuel Rocket
Goddard loading a bazooka in 1918 Photo Credits: NASA
Reknowned People / Space Exploration / Space Technology

Robert Goddard: 1st Liquid-Fuel Rocket

“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”Robert H. Goddard Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) is considered the father of modern rocket propulsion. Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on October 5, 1882. He was often ill as a child and had extended absences from school. He attended college at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he received his BS in 1908. From there, he went on…

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July 7, 2021
Maxime Faget: An Engineering Genius
S69-64137 (1969) --- Maxime A. Faget, Director of Engineering and Development, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, holds a model of an early space shuttle vehicle. Photo credit: NASA
Reknowned People / Rocket Science / Space Technology

Maxime Faget: An Engineering Genius

“It’s hard to tell people how you invent something. You see a problem-you solve a problem. I enjoy solving problems.”Maxime A. Faget Maxime Faget was a Belizean-born American mechanical engineer. Faget was the designer of the Mercury spacecraft, and contributed to the later Gemini and Apollo spacecraft as well as the Space Shuttle. Faget developed many of the innovative ideas and design concepts that have been incorporated into all of the manned spacecraft flown by the United States. His accomplishments included…

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July 6, 2021

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