PC Tech World: flight

Monday, April 22, 2013

Watch live: Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket to lift off on test flight (update: success!)

SpaceX may be the only private outfit currently shepherding cargo to the International Space Station, but Orbital Sciences, which is the second party in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services effort, is taking a step towards its own ISS resupply missions. Today, the firm's Antares rocket will undergo its very first test flight, taking off from the space agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Liftoff is slated for sometime between 5PM and 7PM, with an 80 percent chance of favorable weather, as opposed to the 45 percent odds and high-altitude winds that foiled its initial attempt yesterday. To watch Antares embark on its maiden voyage, hit the jump for a live video feed.

Update: Antares blasted off at a hair past 5PM and successfully separated from its mock payload. The live stream has wrapped up, but we'll slot in a video of the launch as soon as we get ahold of one.

Update 2: NASA just posted its footage of the rocket taking off, and we've placed the video after the break for your viewing pleasure.

[Image credit: NASA, Flickr]

Source: NASA (1), (2), Orbital Sciences

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Boeing 787 Dreamliner completes flight check, certification still awaits (update)

It wouldn't surprise us to learn that more than a few Boeing officials had their fingers crossed this morning in Everett, Washington. That's because the 787 Dreamliner took to the skies ~~for the first time since being grounded~~ in an effort to demonstrate a proper fix to that nasty overheating issue that's plagued the airliner's battery. The test flight, known as a functional flight check, lasted approximately two hours and will give the folks at Boeing an opportunity to examine data from the outing in advance of the 787's single certification flight -- a process that's otherwise known as one and done.

Update: This article originally stated that this is the first time the 787 Dreamliner has flown since being grounded, which is incorrect. Today's test flight is the first time the 787 Dreamliner has flown since the FAA-approved battery fix has been in place.

Source: Reuters, USA Today