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Suborbital
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital revolution (it does not become an artificial satellite) or reach escape velocity. For example, the path of an object launched from Earth that reaches the Kármán line (at ) above sea level), and then falls back to Earth, is considered a sub-orbital spaceflight. Some sub-orbital flights have been undertaken to test spacecraft and launch vehicles later intended for orbital spaceflight. Other vehicles are specifically designed only for sub-orbital flight; examples include crewed vehicles, such as the X-15 and SpaceShipOne, and uncrewed ones, such as ICBMs and sounding rockets. Flights which attain sufficient velocity to go into low Earth orbit, and then de-orbit before completing their first full orbit, are not considered sub-orbital. Exam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaceflight
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit. Such spaceflight operates either by telerobotic or autonomous control. The more complex human spaceflight has been pursued soon after the first orbital satellites and has reached the Moon and permanent human presence in space around Earth, particularly with the use of space stations. Human spaceflight programs include the Soyuz, Shenzhou, the past Apollo Moon landing and the Space Shuttle programs, with currently the International Space Station as the main destination of human spaceflight missions while China's Tiangong Space Station is under construction. Spaceflight is used for placing in Earth's orbit communications satellites, reconnaissance satellites ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaceport America
Spaceport America, formerly the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed spaceport located on of State Trust Land in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and southeast of Truth or Consequences. With Virgin Galactic's launch of the VSS ''Unity'', with three people aboard, on May 22, 2021, New Mexico became the third US state to launch humans into space after California and Florida. Spaceport America is "the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport", designed and constructed specifically for commercial users, that had not previously been an airport or federal infrastructure of any kind. The site is built to accommodate both vertical and horizontal launch aerospace vehicles, as well as an array of non-aerospace events and commercial activities. Spaceport America is owned and operated by the State of New Mexico, via a state agency, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The first rocket launch at Spaceport America occurred on Septemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virgin Galactic Unity 22
Virgin Galactic Unity 22 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS ''Unity'' which launched on 11 July 2021. The crew consisted of pilots David Mackay and Michael Masucci as well as passengers Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, and Richard Branson. Background On 7 June 2021, Jeff Bezos announced that he planned to be on the first crewed flight of his company Blue Origin, which meant being aboard the first crewed flight to space (suborbital) of a private enterprise fully funded by private money with (2 possible different "record firsts" depending on whether one uses the international standard limit of space as 100 km altitude or the USA 50 mile altitude limit): * A) in case of using the Karman line as the boundary of space, passengers (non-pilots) onboard, or * B) in case of using thee USAF/NASA 50 mile altitude limit for space, more than 1 passenger (i.e. non-pilot) aboard. These two different "record firsts" are due to the fact that A) SpaceShip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3, or ''Freedom 7'', was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and returning him safely. Shepard's mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g-forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry. Shepard named his space capsule ''Freedom 7'', setting a precedent for the remaining six Mercury astronauts naming their spacecraft. The number 7 was included in all the crewed Mercury spacecraft names to honor NASA's first group of seven astronauts. His spacecraft reached an altitude of 101.2 nautical miles (116.5 statute miles, 187.5 km) and traveled a downrange distance of 263.1 nautical miles (302.8 statute miles, 487.3 km). It was the fourth Mercury flight launched with the Mercury-Redstone Launch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercury-Redstone 4
Mercury-Redstone 4 was the second United States human spaceflight, on July 21, 1961. The suborbital Project Mercury flight was launched with a Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, MRLV-8. The spacecraft, Mercury capsule #11, was nicknamed the ''Liberty Bell 7''. It was piloted by astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom. The spaceflight lasted 15 minutes 30 seconds, reached an altitude of more than , and flew downrange, landing in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight went as expected until just after splashdown, when the hatch cover, designed to release explosively in the event of an emergency, accidentally blew. Grissom was at risk of drowning, but was recovered safely via a U.S. Navy helicopter. The spacecraft sank into the Atlantic and was not recovered until 1999. Mission parameters * Mass: 1 286 kg * Maximum altitude: 190.39 km * Range: 486.15 km * Launch vehicle: Redstone rocket Spacecraft The MR-4 spacecraft, Mercury capsule #11, was designated to fly the second crewe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SpaceShipOne Flight 15P
Flight 15P of Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne, SpaceShipOne (X0) was the first privately funded human spaceflight. It took place on June 21, 2004. It was the fourth powered test flight of the Scaled Composites Tier One, Tier One program, the previous three test flights having reached much lower altitudes. The flight carried only its Pilot (spaceflight), pilot, Mike Melvill, who thus became the first non-governmental astronaut. This flight was a full-altitude test, but not itself a competitive flight for the Ansari X Prize, the prize for the first non-governmental reusable crewed spacecraft. Problems were encountered during the flight, but later corrected, paving the way for SpaceShipOne to make competitive flights later in 2004. Crew Flight profile All times are in Pacific Daylight Time, PDT, which is seven hours behind UTC. This was the local civil time at the spaceport on the day of the flight. All measurements are first stated in the United States customary units, U.S. custo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VSS Unity VF-01
VF-01 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity, VSS ''Unity'' that took place on 22 February 2019, piloted by David Mackay (pilot), David Mackay and co-piloted by Mike Masucci. It was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson that intends to conduct space tourism flights in the future. Following VSS Unity VP-03, VSS ''Unity'' VP-03, VF-01 was a demonstration of the craft's ability to carry passengers. Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses acted as a test passenger, evaluating the experience for potential customers. Reaching an apogee of , the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight (), but fell short of the Kármán line (), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition. Crew Flights are currently only by U.S Convention. Flight On 22 February 2019, ''Unity's'' mother ship VMS Eve, VMS ''Eve'' carried it into flight in a Parasite aircraft, parasite configuration. Shortly before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Border
Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and Earth atmosphere, its atmosphere and between astronomical object, celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a Ultra-high vacuum, near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, predominantly a plasma (physics), plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, cosmic neutrino background, neutrinos, cosmic dust, dust, and cosmic rays. The baseline temperature of outer space, as set by the cosmic background radiation, background radiation from the Big Bang, is . The Warm–hot intergalactic medium, plasma between galaxies is thought to account for about half of the baryonic matter, baryonic (ordinary) matter in the universe, having a number density of less than one hydrogen atom per cubic metre and a kinetic temperature of millions of kelvins. Local concentrations of matter have condensed into stars and galaxy, galaxies. Studies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VSS Unity VP-03
VP-03 (also referred to in some sources as PF04) was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS ''Unity'' which took place on 13 December 2018, piloted by Mark P. Stucky and co-piloted by Frederick W. "CJ" Sturckow. VSS ''Unity'' was carried aloft by the White Knight Two carrier plane before being released. The spacecraft reached an apogee of ; the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight () but fell short of the Kármán line (), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition. The flight was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson who conducted a space tourism flight on 11 July 2021. It was the first crewed spaceflight from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle mission STS-135 in 2011. Crew Flights are currently only by U.S Convention. Background During the 20th century, human spaceflight was conducted exclusively by countries and government agencies, such as NASA. This began to change during the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Origin NS-22
Blue Origin NS-22 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which launched on 4 August 2022 using the New Shepard rocket. It was Blue Origin's sixth crewed flight and the twenty-second overall to go into space. Crew The NS-22 crew was nicknamed "Titanium Feather". The crew of six included Sara Sabry, who became the first Egyptian person in space, and Mário Ferreira, who became the first Portuguese person in space. Also onboard was Coby Cotton, one of the co-founders of American YouTube channel Dude Perfect. Cotton's flight was sponsored by MoonDAO, a cryptocurrency company. The crew also included American British explorer Vanessa O'Brien, who became the first woman to complete the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta, which involves travelling to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the summit of Mount Everest, and flying into outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Origin NS-21
Blue Origin NS-21 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission, operated by Blue Origin, which launched on 4 June 2022 using the New Shepard rocket. It was Blue Origin's fifth crewed flight, and twenty-first overall to reach space. The mission was originally scheduled to launch on 20 May 2022. However, the flight was delayed due to a back-up system not meeting the "expectations for performance," and the new 4 June launch date was announced on 31 May 2022. Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke was a guest of Blue Origin attending the launch. Crew The NS-21 crew was nicknamed the "Crew of Natural Selection". The crew of six included Evan Dick, who previously flew onboard Blue Origin NS-19, making him the first person to fly on New Shepard twice. Also onboard was Katya Echazarreta, who became the first Mexican-born woman and youngest American woman to fly to space, and Victor Vescovo, a notable undersea explorer. The flight made Vescovo the first person to complete the Explorers' Extre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VSS Unity Unity21
Virgin Galactic Unity 21 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS ''Unity'' which took place on 22 May 2021, piloted by David Mackay and co-piloted by Frederick Sturckow. It was the first human spaceflight from the state of New Mexico. It was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson which intends to conduct space tourism flights in the future. Unity 21 was the first human spaceflight to be launched from Spaceport America. Reaching an apogee of , the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight (), but fell short of the Kármán line (), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition. Crew Flights are currently only by U.S Convention. Flight On 22 May 2021, ''Unity's'' mother ship VMS ''Eve'' carried it into flight in a parasite configuration. At 15:26 UTC, ''Unity'' was drop launched. Pilots MacKay and Sturckow flew ''Unity'' at a maximum Mach of 3. to a maximum altitude of over . This altit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
