Interorbital Systems Achieves Major Flight Milestone With Successful Rocket Launch!
Hello
reader!
It
follows one communicates published in (03/30), in the website of the “Interorbital
Systems” noting that this American company achieved important milestone with
the successful flight of his rocket.
Duda Falcão
CPM TV Rocket Launch
Interorbital
Systems Achieves Major Flight
Milestone With Successful Rocket Launch!
MOJAVE-03.30.14--- At
12:15 on March 29, 2014, Interorbital Systems’ Common Propulsion Module Test
Vehicle (CPM TV) thundered off its mobile launch unit on its maiden flight. The
rocket's 7,500-lb thrust engine performed flawlessly propelling the 1200-lb
rocket to Mach 1+ within seconds over the FAR Launch Area. The 30-foot long CPM
TV rocket is a boiler-plate test version of the identical rocket units that
will make up Interorbital's modular orbital launch systems.
This version
of the CPM TV was initially guided by a unique cable guidance system that
utilizes guide-arms attached to the bottom edge of the fins. Cables attached to
the guide arms are wound around pulleys and a common drum, allowing the cables
to unwind at the same rate, keeping the rocket flying straight until the fins
become effective. This launch system is a low-mass equivalent of a 180-foot
long launch rail. The pyrotechnic guide-arm release system, which worked
perfectly, is identical to the stage-release system that will be used by the
IOS NEPTUNE orbital launch systems.
A standard CPM
is designed to burn for 150 seconds which is enough to carry a 320-pound
(145-kg) payload to 192-miles (310-km). Because of the maximum altitude
restrictions at the launch site, the burn time had to be limited 10 seconds and
ballast had to be added to the rocket to increase its weight. Due to a center
of pressure anomaly, the rocket reached 10,000 feet, which was half of its
calculated altitude. The rocket's health and recovery system adapted to the
problem and returned the rocket and its payloads safely to the ground.
The following
commercial payloads were on-board:
National Cheng
Kung University (Taiwan)
M2M2SKY/Boreal
Space (Brazil/California)
Google Lunar
XPRIZE Team SYNERGY MOON (California/International)
John
Frusicante’s (Red Hot Chili Peppers) album ENCLOSURE (The Record Collection,
Malibu)
All payloads
were recovered still functioning and intact. The rocket sustained minimal
damage and will be used re-used on the next test flight in which the CPM will
be finless and guided.
Systems
Tested:
Propulsion
System in flight;
Cable Launch
Device (CLD) and Pyrotechnic Staging System (PSS);
Telemetry;
Health and
Recovery System; and
Wireless-encrypted
CPM controller
Academy
Award-winning Sound Designer Hamilton Sterling of Helikon Sound conducted an
elaborate sound recording of the launch event. A GoPro camera was mounted on
the rocket and the video will be posted later. Below is a still photo taken
from the rocket just after launch. The CLD guide-arms and cables are visible in
the picture.
OBS: A foto citada logo acima pode ser vista no site da
Interorbital Systems, já que apesar de meus esforços não consegui copiá-la.
Source: Website of the Interorbital Systems - http://www.interorbital.com
Comentário: Bom leitor, eu não entendi muito bem essa notícia
e espero que algum de nossos leitores engenheiros possa explicar-me. Como um
foguete em teste de voo que não tinha objetivo nenhum de colocar cargas uteis
no espaço estava carregado com essas cargas arriscando perde-las e dar prejuízo
a seus clientes? Sinceramente eu não entendi bem essa atitude da Interorbital,
mas enfim... Vale dizer que segundo a notícia acima uma dessas cargas uteis era
brasileira, mas além da informação de que essa carga nomeada de “M2M2SKY/Boreal Space” ter como origem uma
pareceria de empresas brasileira e americana, muito pouco se sabe sobre a
mesma. Vale lembrar também que era através de um foguete dessa empresa que o “Tubesat
Tancredo-1” do Grupo liderado pelo Prof. Cândido Moura de Ubatuba, estava escalado
inicialmente para ser lançado ao espaço, coisa que agora acontecerá através da
Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS), que segundo AEB, ocorrerá no segundo
semestre desse ano. Entretanto, até o momento o segundo tubesat do Projeto
Ubatubasat, ou seja, o Tancredo-2, continua escalado para ser lançado por essa
empresa, coisa sinceramente que eu não acredito que ocorra. Vamos aguardar.
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