World's Largest Bottle Rocket


My wife and I were fortunate to witness the launch of the world's largest bottle rocket on the Fourth of July. I must confess that I was stunned by the enormous amount of energy that is experienced during the launch. It was so surreal, it felt like I was watching an animated movie rather than experiencing a man-made miracle. The only thing I can compare it to is watching a 12-story building suddenly lift off the ground and head to into low Earth orbit... which means that I can't compare it to anything.

Another astounding aspect of the shuttle launch is the complexity of systems that work together; it truly is an engineering marvel. The space shuttle is often called "the most complex machine ever built by mankind".

Here are some facts that may help you understand what a space shuttle launch entails:
  • A Space Shuttle and its boosters ready for launch are the same height as the Statue of Liberty but weigh almost three times as much.
  • The Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters burn 10 tons of propellant per second!
  • Space shuttles are the "world's first reusable spacecraft." All of the components are reused except for the external fuel tank, which burns up in the atmosphere after launch.
You can continue reading more about the Space Shuttle Program.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Using the Cisco console in Linux

Image
Introduction People who work with Cisco network equipment need to be able to connect to the console port on their devices. In Windows, you can simply fire up HyperTerminal to get basic access to your devices. If you are using Linux, then you need to know how this can be done with an application called Minicom . Hardware First, you are going to need a Cisco console cable , a Cisco device, and a computer. If your computer has a serial port , then you can use the standard console cable that comes with every Cisco device. If you do not have a serial port (like most new laptops), then you need to purchase a USB to Serial adapter that supports Linux. This device will allow you to use the standard Cisco cable, which has a serial port on one end. Install Minicom You can easily install Minicom by using "System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager". Search for "minicom" and choose to install the package. Click "Apply" and Minicom should be insta...
Read more

Linux NIC teaming recommendations

Image
Introduction In my job as a network engineer, I am constantly looking for ways to increase the availability of the network. This is especially true in the data center, where services are expected to always be available. One of the ways to increase the network availability of a server is by using multiple network interfaces. This technique has many different names, but I am just going to call it NIC teaming. Purpose of NIC Teaming NIC teaming increases network availability by removing single-points-of-failure (SPOF). These SPOFs are components that will cause a service outage if they become unavailable. If we consider a single network connection from your server to your switch, we can identify quite a few SPOFs: Server NIC failure Network cable failure (such as being cut or unplugged) Network switch failure (such as a planned firmware upgrade or unplanned outage) Methods of NIC Teaming The reason I am writing this blog is to help people understand the different options for NIC team...
Read more

What it takes to make Ubuntu ready for use

I recently installed Ubuntu 6.10 on a new PC at work. In this post I will document all the steps I had to perform to get it ready for everyday use. Each step is assigned a level of difficulty, which I define below: Very Easy Step can be completed without using the command prompt Intuitive to complete Easy Step can be completed without using the command prompt May require searching to find the right place to make the change Medium Requires a single command to be entered at the command prompt Requires searching internet resources to find the solution Hard Requires multiple commands to be entered at the command prompt Requires searching internet resources to find the solution Very Hard Requires multiple commands to be entered at the command prompt Requires searching internet resources to find the solution Requires the user to manually edit a configuration file These criteria are quite strict, because I believe that using an operating system should be intuitive, and not require any spec...
Read more