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Showing posts from April, 2010

Rocket Racing League

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Coming soon to an airshow near you: Rocket Racing League . I've always been a big fan of aviation and spent the better part of my youth immersed in it since my dad was a private pilot very active in the local AOPA club. Some of my favorite memories from those days are attending air shows with my family at a nearby Air Force base and flying to the EAA Oshkosh Show in Wisconsin. The Rocket Racing League (RRL) is a new kind of airshow, which had its debut event at the Tulsa Air Show this past weekend. Think of it as Star Wars podracing meets NASCAR.  RRL uses the latest rocket and augmented reality technologies to allow both the pilots and the spectators to feel like they're flying through a virtual racecourse in the sky.  There is even an iPhone app that allows you to join in the fun. Below is a highlight video from Miles O'Brien covering the first RRL event. Check out the RRL YouTube Channel for more.

NASA's Reboot

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On April 15, Obama outlined a new strategy for NASA at the Presidential Space Summit held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The plan proposes a sizable increase in NASA's budget, a privatizing of access to low-earth orbit, and shift in focus toward new technology development.  A fellow A4H was there firsthand to witness the event. If you, like me, couldn't be there, check out this NASA video that explains the new plan:

Astronauts4Hire!

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I'm excited to announce an exciting project that has occupied a great deal of my time for the past few weeks. Check out our first press release below: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2010 Astronauts4Hire Launches, Selects Initial Candidates for Commercial Scientist Astronauts Phoenix, Arizona – Astronauts4Hire, a new collaborative effort to support and develop a pool of qualified, commercial scientist astronauts announces today the launch of its website ( www.astronauts4hire.org ) and selection of 11 initial astronaut candidates. The candidates, selected from industry and academia, bring with them a wide variety of experience and expertise, representing a diverse set of disciplines. Pooling their collective resources and talents, and leveraging their common passion and commitment for space exploration, the candidates have created Astronauts4Hire to support the emerging suborbital research industry. On a day that marks the anniversaries of the first human to orbit the Earth