HOME



picture info

Stargazer (aircraft)
''Stargazer'' is a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar built in 1974, that was modified in 1994 for use by Orbital Sciences (now part of Northrop Grumman) as a mother ship for the Pegasus (rocket), Pegasus, a small-lift launch vehicle. , 45 rockets (containing nearly 100 satellites) have been launched from ''Stargazer''. ''Stargazer'' is the only L-1011 airframe still airworthy. History The first Pegasus launch to use Stargazer was conducted on June 27, 1994, as the maiden flight of the Pegasus-XL. Previous launches used the NASA-operated Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52 nicknamed "Balls 8," which was also used for four subsequent launches, as the original Pegasus could not be launched from Stargazer due to clearance issues. A modified version, the Pegasus-H, was introduced to rectify this. Stargazer was also used for captive tests and transportation of the Orbital Sciences X-34, X-34 hypersonic research aircraft; however, the drop tests used Balls 8. Pegasus launches using Stargazer ar ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry, weapons manufacturers and military technology providers. Formed in 1994 through Northrop Corporation's purchase of Grumman Aerospace, Northrop Grumman ranked as the List of defense contractors, third-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2022. The firm ranked on the 2022 Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 list of America's largest corporations. Northrop Grumman and its industry partners have won the Collier Trophy nine times, most recently for the development and production of the James Webb Space Telescope, an Space telescope, orbiting observatory launched in 2021. Northrop Grumman leads the development of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, B-21 Raider, a long-range, stealth aircraft, stealth strategic bomber that can drop conv ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg Space Force Base, a United States military installation with a spaceport * Vandenberg (band), a Dutch hard rock band ** ''Vandenberg'' (album), their 1982 debut album * Vandenberg resolution, a United States Congress resolution passed in 1948 {{disambig ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ionospheric Connection Explorer
Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) was a NASA satellite designed to investigate changes in the ionosphere of Earth, the dynamic region high in the atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. ICON studied the interaction between Earth's weather systems and space weather driven by the Sun, and how this interaction drives turbulence in the upper atmosphere. NASA hoped that a better understanding of this dynamic would mitigate its effects on communications, GPS signals, and technology in general. It was part of NASA's Explorer program and was operated by University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory. On 12 April 2013, NASA announced that ICON, along with Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD), had been selected for development with the cost capped at US$200 million, excluding launch costs. The principal investigator of ICON was Thomas Immel at the University of California, Berkeley. ICON was originally sch ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System
The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) is a space-based system developed by the University of Michigan and Southwest Research Institute with the aim of improving Tropical cyclone forecasting, hurricane forecasting by better understanding the interactions between the sea and the air near the core of a storm. In June 2012, NASA sponsored the project for $152 million with the University of Michigan leading its development. Other participants in CYGNSS' development include the Southwest Research Institute, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Surrey Satellite Technology. The plan was to build a constellation of eight micro-satellites to be launched simultaneously in a single launch vehicle into low Earth orbit, at 500 km altitude. The program was scheduled to launch December 12, 2016, and then observe two hurricane seasons. Problems with a pump on the launching aircraft prevented this first launch, but a second launch attempt took place successfully on December 15, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, arms manufacturer headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company operated across 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK revenue in fiscal year 2014 was about US$4.8 billion. On April 29, 2014, ATK announced that it would spin off its Sporting Group and merge its Aerospace and Defense Groups with Orbital Sciences Corporation. The spinoff of the Sporting Group to create Vista Outdoor and the merger leading to the creation of Orbital ATK were completed on February 9, 2015. The companies began operations as separate entities on February 20, 2015. Orbital ATK was bought by Northrop Grumman in 2018. History ATK was launched as an independent company in 1990 after Honeywell spun off its defense businesses to shareholders. The former Honeywell businesses had supplied defense products and systems to the U.S. and its allies for 50 years, including the first electronic a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Stargazer And Pegasus F43 In Flight Over Atlantic (KSC-20161212-PH LAL01 0009)
Stargazer may refer to: * an observational astronomer, particularly an amateur. Also see Amateur astronomy. Aerospace * Stargazer (aircraft), a Lockheed L-1011 airliner used to launch the Pegasus rocket * Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2, nicknamed Stargazer, the first successful space telescope * Star Gazers, a five-minute astronomy show on public television Fictional media * '' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer'', a storyline in the series ''Gundam SEED Destiny'' * Stargazer, a werewolf tribe in the game ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' * ''Stargazer'' (novel), a book in the ''Evernight'' series by Claudia Gray * ''Stargazer'' (Patrick Carman), a book in the ''Land of Elyon'' series by Patrick Carman * The Stargazer, a fictional character in the epilogue of ''Mass Effect 3'' played by Buzz Aldrin * '' Star Trek: Stargazer'', a series of ''Star Trek'' novels * Commander Stargazer, the leader of the Silverhawks Music Artists * The Stargazers (vocal ensemble) * ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production turbofan#Three-spool, three-spool engine and turned Rolls-Royce from a significant player in the aero-engine industry into a global leader. Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, it entered service in 1972 and was the exclusive engine to power the L-1011. Mismanagement of the initial development and consequent cost issues led to the effective nationalisation of Rolls-Royce Limited, to save the workforce and the engine businesses important to the UK and many other aerospace and aircraft operating companies. In the early 1970s, the engine was reckoned by the company to be capable of at least 50 years of continuous development. The RB.211 was renamed, in 1989, to become the basis of the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines when the RB211-524L was renamed to the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK, which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Orbital was headquartered in Dulles, Virginia and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol ORB. Orbital's primary products were satellites and launch vehicles, including low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions; ground- and air-launched launch vehicles that delivered satellites into orbit; missile defense systems that were used as interceptor and target vehicles; and human-rated space systems for Earth orbit, lunar and other missions. Orbital ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union member state. Spanning across the majority of the Iberian Peninsula, its territory also includes the Canary Islands, in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands, in the Western Mediterranean Sea, and the Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in mainland Africa. Peninsular Spain is bordered to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; to the east and south by the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. Spain's capital and List of largest cities in Spain, largest city is Madrid, and other major List of metropolitan areas in Spain, urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Gran Canaria Airport
Gran Canaria Airport () is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air transport network (owned and managed by a public enterprise, AENA), as it holds the sixth position in terms of passengers, and fifth in terms of operations and cargo transported. It also ranks first of the Canary Islands in all three categories, although the island of Tenerife has higher passenger numbers overall if statistics from the two airports located on the island are combined. The facility covers of land and contains two 3,100m runways. The airport is located in the eastern part of Gran Canaria on the Bay of Gando (Bahía de Gando), to the southEAD Basic
. Ead.eurocontrol.int. Retrieved on 2011-08-02.
of
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five main islands as well as 1,220 other very small ones, divided across two Archipelago, island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares Maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital city, capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population. The Marshall Islands are one of only four atoll based nations in the entire world. Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeas ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kwajalein Atoll
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilian personnel) often use the shortened name, Kwaj . The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over . It lies in the Ralik, Ralik Chain, southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. The US Navy has hosted a naval base on Kwajalein Island since World War II. It was the final resting place of the German cruiser ''German cruiser Prinz Eugen, Prinz Eugen'' after it survived the Operation Crossroads nuclear test in 1946. In the late 1950s, the US Army took over the base as part of their Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile efforts, and since then the atoll has been widely used for missile tests of all sorts. Today it is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, with various radars, tracking camera ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]