Cozy Dark emerging technology began work in 2010 as a skunkworks-style engineering firm and is registered with CCR and NSPIRES.
Our early engineering & design efforts have focused on orbital debris solutions and electrodynamic tether technology.
Zach Urbina founded Cozy Dark with the cooperation of technical, research, and academic colleagues in the Southern California AeroAstro community.
We also have a growing library of space science talks featuring Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, astrophysicist Sean Carroll and more.
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13 posts tagged aerospace
Inside SpaceShipOne: The suborbital air-launched spaceplane that completed the first manned private spaceflight.
via itsfullofstars
XCOR’s Doug Jones at the LA Space Salon |
Known as the Rocket Whisperer, Doug Jones is a Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at XCOR Aerospace. He handles test design and analysis of test results for the company’s liquid rocket engine development and facilitates the development and operation of rocket engine test apparatus. Before joining XCOR, Doug was responsible for sizing the fluid injector elements in Rotary Rocket Company’s (RRC) rocket engine design. Prior to RRC, Doug designed, built, and tested a 400 lb thrust nitrous oxide/propane engine, it’s test facility, and a 300,000 cubic foot balloon system for Vela Technology. Doug also flew multiple times as flight test engineer in the X-Racer rocket powered aircraft! via @SpaceVidCast
XCOR Aerospace Opens its Doors |
Nestled along the Mojave Desert horizon of towering white wind turbines and scrub brush live a handful of the New Space companies, set to rise from fledgling upstarts to the next chapter of affordable American space tourism and suborbital science.
One of these upstarts, XCOR Aerospace, currently in development of their suborbital Lynx rocket plane, opened its doors to the public Saturday (Nov. 19) for Mojave Air and Space Port’s Plane Crazy. Guests were treated to a tour of XCOR’s fabrication and design facilities, as well as a static fire of one of the company’s rocket engines.
XCOR holds high hopes for Lynx:
The Lynx is XCOR’s entry into the commercial reusable launch vehicle (RLV) market. This two-seat, piloted space transport vehicle will take humans and payloads on a half-hour suborbital flight to 100 km (330,000 feet) and then return safely to a landing at the takeoff runway.
Like an aircraft, Lynx is a horizontal takeoff and horizontal landing vehicle, but instead of a jet or piston engine, Lynx uses its own fully reusable rocket propulsion system to depart a runway and return safely. This approach is unique compared to most other RLVs in development, such as conventional vertical rocket launches and air-launched winged rocket vehicles “dropped” at altitude from a jet powered mothership.
Mojave Air and Space Port is also home to Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites, Masten Space Systems, and Firestar Technologies. [source]
Hydrogen Jet Requires No Fuel Stops |
Sometimes nature does it best, which is why so many automobiles and aircrafts draw inspiration from it. William Brown’s concept for the Lockheed Stratoliner Hydrogen Jet is no different. The Stratoliner was inspired by the form of a Bar Tailed Godwit, a bird that boasts the record for longest non-stop flight at an amazing 7,258 miles!
Not only does The Stratoliner take from the Godwit’s form, but also from the idea of extremely long trips. With over-sized wings generating extra lift and four Cryogenic Hydrogen Turbofan engines powering the jet, the Lockheed could fly anywhere without stopping. But, that’s not all. The Cryogenic Hydrogen Turbofan engines also power the jet without causing harmful emissions and can operate on low power, much like that of fighter jets. These features all add up to a cleaner and more environmentally friendly flight.
Shuttle-like space taxi would call Kennedy Space Center its homeport |
Dream Chaser project could eventually mean jobs in ‘low hundreds’ for area
A Colorado company wants to base a fleet of small shuttle-like spaceships at Kennedy Space Center, a move that could yield dozens of new jobs on Florida’s Space Coast.
The Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser will blast off atop United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 41.
The reusable spacecraft will be able to ferry up to seven people to and from the International Space Station, or other destinations in low Earth orbit.
The Daily Planet at Discovery Channel website has a video report about the Dream Chaser. Watch it here.
Via itsfullofstars
A space plane that can take off and land from conventional runways is one step closer to reality |
Following a series of meetings in September 2010 at the International Space Innovation Center in Harwell, U.K., to look at the feasibility of a Reaction Engines design for a new generation of space-flight vehicle, the European Space Agency recently approved the Skylon vehicle and the SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) engine design for initial prototype development.
The meeting at which approval was given brought together nearly a hundred experts from Europe, Russia, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan to examine the technical and economic prospects for the new hybrid Air-Breathing-and-Rocket-Propulsion technology for future space planes.
The premise of the propulsion system is to develop a single-stage, fully reusable launch vehicle with short turnaround time and a flexible design capable of varied mission operations, including human transportation, cargo payload, and scientific missions.
According to Reaction Engines Limited, delivering payloads into orbit could drop from $15,000 per kilo to less than $1,000—vastly reducing the price of delivering payloads, such as telecommunications satellites, into orbit.
(via CNET News/microbatdynamo)
(via liber-eclectica)
ESA’s New Reusable Spacecraft to fly by 2013 - ESA and Thales Alenia Space Italia announced an agreement today at the Paris Air & Space Show to begin building the IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle for its mission into space in 2013. Europe’s ambition for a spacecraft to return autonomously from low orbit is a cornerstone for a wide range of space applications, including space transportation, exploration and robotic servicing of space infrastructure.
(via ralphewig)
(via liber-eclectica)
