Dave Borzillo's MessageStream

Having a blast with thrusters

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:58:30 GMT

Today our propulsion systems class was invited to our professor's facility where he constructs small thrusters and rockets for small satellites as small as 4 inches by 4 inches. The first two pictures are from a test stand for a small 50 milliNewton thruster. It uses nitrogen gas, hydrogen peroxide, and a catalyst.

Sorry about the crummy pictures. My cell phone really doesn't take great photos.

The last two photos are of a larger thruster that works off of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) as the oxidizer and regular rubbing alcohol as the fuel. When you turn off the lights you can see the flame better. I think the thrust on this setup produced 22 Newtons?

Funny (but true) video about technology

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:39:59 GMT

A classic video that came out a while ago.

One Big Post

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:43:10 GMT

I haven't posted in a while, but there's been a lot on my mind. Hence, a mash-up of all that's in my head follows:

Using Feedjit I've been tracking hits to this blog. The top two posts deal with Obama's space policy and my post about the space shuttle's replacement. I've been considering making this a blog exclusively on space exploration. That may be my only chance to get visitors that will click on my Google AdSense ads so I can make a bit more than the $0.75 I have racked-up so far ;)
Checkout the postcard from NASA on my astronaut application. Short and to the point, isn't it?
I'm really proud of how much my wife has been blogging. Good stuff.
I released a new version of borzillo.com. Let me know what you think.
I'm honored that my friends have added me to their blog rolls. Thanks to Dave, Carolyn, and Danielle (ok, she's my wife).
Finals are coming up, but work travel is ramping down. The net is I'm still busy ;)

That's it for now. I hope to post some more after my final next week.

NASA receives about 3,300 applications for 2009 astronaut class

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:47:15 GMT

...and I'm one of them! Good article on the process of narrowing down the applicants. I look forward to my invitation to Houston for late fall/early winter ;)

via The Write Stuff by Mark Matthews on 7/14/08

WASHINGTON -- Think getting into college is hard? Try getting into NASA’s 2009 astronaut class. About 3,300 jet-setters filed their applications with NASA before the July 1 deadline, according to the astronaut admissions office. The space agency will accept 10-15...

Reverse Engineering the Saturn V

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:56:36 GMT

It"s amazing how the know-how of getting to the moon is lost and we now have to go back to the museums to figure out how it worked. Check out the video below from Wired Science.

Another day of testing and demo prep for next week

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:00:47 GMT

Water on the moon

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:05:46 GMT

Amazing that after all these years we are still discovering new things about the moon. I wonder how the discovery of water will change how we explore the moon? Hmmm....

via The Write Stuff by bshaw on 7/9/08

Mark K. Matthews of our Washington Bureau just filed this report: WASHINGTON -- One of the biggest lunar discoveries of the decade -- proof that the moon may have had water since its formation -- was announced Wednesday by an...

The solution to the oil crisis?

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:06:23 GMT

What I like about this video is that T. Boone Pickens is very practicaly about HOW to swap out oil for other alternatives. You can go to http://www.pickensplan.com for more info.

The internet finally crashed

Dave Borzillo (dborzillo) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:05:57 GMT

via FLORIDA TODAY Space Team Blog by SpaceTeam on 7/7/08

NASA unveiled a new launch schedule today that calls for eight shuttle missions in 2009 and 2010 and 10 overall before the nation's three-orbiter fleet is retired.

The last of the missions now is slated to launch May 31, 2010 -- which would leave enough time to launch an extra mission if Congress calls on NASA to fly a particle physics experiment to the International Space Station before the end of fiscal 2010.

As it stands, the schedule calls for seven flights to complete construction of the International Space Station, two contigency flights to outfit the outpost with large spare parts and the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Here's the line-up:

Oct. 8: Atlantis on the Hubble Space Telescope repair flight.

Nov. 10: Endeavour on a space station supply run.

Feb. 12, 2009: Discovery with a fourth and final set of American solar wings for the station.

May 15, 2009: Endeavour with the final segment of the Japanese Kibo science research facility.

July 30, 2009: Atlantis on a mission to deliver science and storage racks to the station.

Oct. 15, 2009: Discovery on a mission to deliver gyroscopes and other large spare parts to the station.

Dec. 10, 2009: Endeavour with the Node 3 connecting module and a cupola that will house a robotic service station and a 360-degree view around the station.

Feb. 11, 2010: Atlantis on a mission to haul storage racks and spare parts up to the station.

April 8, 2010: Discovery on a mission to delivery assembly and maintenance hardware as well as a small Russian pressurized module that will be part of a larger research facility.

May 31, 2010: Endeavour on a final flight to deliver large spare parts to the station.

- Todd Halvorson