This Is What It Looks Like To Jump From 13.6 Miles Above Earth

Our planet never seems more beautiful than from a distance. Extreme jumper Felix Baumgartner brought back this amazingly distant view — from 71,580 feet above the surface — before jumping out of his space capsule and hurtling home at 365 mph in his quest to hit supersonic speeds without an...

May 20, 2024

How NASA Rocket Technology Led To The Ultimate Fire-Fighting Weapon

A company that develops rocket engines for NASA has turned that rocket tech into an that can put out a flaming car in nine seconds. Called the Ultra High Pressure high-mobility fire apparatus, or UHP for short, the system sprays a swirling vortex of fine water droplets at a fire....

May 20, 2024

From Rocket Monorails To Yugos

When it comes to wild-ass ’50s dreams about mankind’s imminent future in space, it’s tough to beat Freeman Dyson’s , but this concept drawing of a rocket monorail is not half bad either. A rocket monorail! Unfortunately, while the only thing that stood between Dyson’s magnificent spaceships and the stars...

May 20, 2024

Why The Titanic Sank

100 years ago today, . Obviously we know the iceberg was the cause, but what exactly did the iceberg damage that caused the ship to snap in half and fall to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean? Turns out, where the ship was hit proved just as important as the...

May 20, 2024

Watch Space Shuttle Discovery's Final Flight As America Records It

Today, the Space Shuttle Discovery flies over the Capitol of the great nation that birthed it — the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex in Northern Virginia. Here's what the shuttle's final flight looked like — both through the camera lens of above, and through smartphone camera and amateur...

May 20, 2024

All Modern American Rockets And Spaceships Compared

This is a very neat graphic: all modern American rockets and spaceships compared, from XCOR's Lynx—a two-seat space transport vehicle—to . And of course, the classic Saturn V added for good measure. After all, it's still the biggest and baddest American rocket (America fuck yeah!) [] ...

May 20, 2024

Meet Camilla, The Rubber Chicken Sent Into Space For Science

media Our leaders may be faltering when it comes to sending men into space, but the youth know what's up. Specifically, they know how to get objects like Camilla the solar radiation-measuring rubber chicken up into the stratosphere. Watch this rubber chicken's glorious ascent from the hands of a group...

May 20, 2024

How To Watch The Space Shuttle Enterprise Fly Over New York

Today between 10:30 am and 11:30 am the Space Shuttle Enterprise will make its final landing at New York City's JFK Airport, but first it's going to circle Manhattan. If you're in the New York area you won't want to miss this historic event. In 30 years you might be...

May 20, 2024

Test Inches Mach 5.5 UK Spaceplane Closer To Reality

Skylon, in development by the British company Reaction Engines, would be the Holy-Grail-meets-cold-fusion of space travel, a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane powered by the Sabre engine, which is both a jet and a rocket. While still belong to a hazy future, has put us a fraction closer to cheap hypersonic travel. The...

May 20, 2024

You Can Own This Space Shuttle Food Truck

Calling this thing a "food truck" isn't really accurate. It's really an actual WWII veteran DC-3 that was built onto a GMC chassis for street use in 1976, then had a full commercial kitchen built into it in 2001. Then it was painted to look like the Space Shuttle, since...

May 20, 2024

SpaceX Was Not The First Private Rocket Company

Tesla Motors founder must be pretty happy right now. His other major venture, SpaceX, has just succeeded in a monumental first: the , the Dragon, to the International Space Station. Up to now, docking a craft, even an unmanned one, has only been accomplished by some big names in the...

May 20, 2024

Houston Gets Lame Space Shuttle Replica Delivered In Lamest Way Possible

The deliveries of the real Space Shuttles to their final resting places were that . Houston, which , is getting a replica. And just in case Houstonians didn't know they were getting shortchanged, it was delivered on a plane but instead on a damn barge. Thanks, NASA. I'm not going...

May 20, 2024

A New York Barge Pilot Smashed The Shuttle's Wing

Jeezis. is why we can't have nice things. After the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise was into New York a bit over a month ago, yesterday it was just a touch less spectacularly through New York Harbor for temporary storage in New Jersey. There it will wait until its permanent home...

May 20, 2024

How They Carefully Lift The Space Shuttle

NASA is no longer flying space shuttles, but when the cameras turn away from the or flotillas the real heavy lifting begins. Massive cranes have to delicately lift the shuttle from place to place. Here's how they do it, complete with photos exclusive to Jalopnik online of Space Shuttles Enterprise...

May 20, 2024

China's New Space Station Isn't Really A Space Station

Sometime very soon, China will be launching three to their new space station, making them only the third country ever to accomplish such a feat. The station, Tiangong 1 (it means Heavenly Palace, which sounds like a place I have a take-out menu from) was launched back in late September...

May 20, 2024