I was reading yet another web site with the old saw that you can't turn off a solid rocket motor once it has ignited, save for destroying the motor. Then I...

Not sure how on topic this is here, but I notice in Nature this week a discussion about the so called force that has meant these craft are not where they are...

I was toying with this idea for a *possible* futuristic voyage to Alpha Centauri, with a big emphasis on water and life support resource mining from comets and...

In this article on MSNBC.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3217961/ "At the start of the trip, the Earth station would focus its particle beam on the...

I'd like to bounce a propulsion idea off the experts of this group: Visualize a very small, v-shaped notch in a thin layer of diamond - maybe 100nm wide and...

Is there a source online or elsewhere that ranks past and current boosters (and STS, Pegasus, other alternatives) in order of mass ratio? Ideally, gross pad...

http://members.aol.com/cv192/engine.html A nitrous oxide and rubber NOX/HTPB (R45M rubber) is reported to produce 235 second Isp. This is equal to an exhaust...

Hi, I am working on Image processing of Inverse Synthetic Aperure Radar(ISAR) images.The image I am using is a BOE727 image produced by Dr.B.D.Steinberg,...

Here's a thought - d'oh flag on We know that to achieve an orbit at 100 miles altitude, the little suborbital ships can't get up to that velocity. And...

Team ARCA (http://www.arcaspace.ro/) just posted about about a successful test flight of thier prototype. Of interest to me it is mentioned that they use 60%...

Pretend a hypothetical SSTO tops off its tanks in low Earth orbit. It now has plenty of fuel to get from LEO to the lunar surface. In fact, it has 4000m/s of...

Watching the second launch of Spaceship 1 and thinking on the roll couple that begins as the rocket is fully started and seems to get a step increase crossing...

I went to two of Burt Rutans presentations at the EAA Oshkosh show. I thought people would like some technical tidbits from the presentations. This is all from...

Here's an interesting article: http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/8/9 A new method for making alumina-based glass in bulk. Better windows for aircraft and...

Early on in the space program, the space capsule used brute force re-entry. IE: it slammed into the upper atmosphere at high speed to slow down for return. The...

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC is hosting a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) set of lectures on Radar Polarimetry and...

Dear All, I would like some advice and comments please on the feasibility to mine comets in-flight on a hypothetical futuristic spaceflight mission towards...

I was reading about these electric "lifters" which generate lift using "ion wind", and came across this old article about the Ionocraft, which was to use this...

In 2000 National Commission for the Review of National Reconnaissance Office made recommendation to form new Office of Space Reconnaissance. A little bit...

I'm designing an O'Neill habitat for use in a game scenario, where I'm trying to keep the science as plausible as possible. It's going to be the classic...