Fusion energy breakthrough at Sandia Labs - SOFIA Test Flight successful -

Professor Stephen Hawking Experiences Freedom of Weightlessness Aboard Zero-Gravity Flight

Almost out of this world, the Russians help us with a fusion energy
breakthrough, the SOFIA aircraft finally completes its first test
flight, and Professor Stephen Hawking gets to experience weightlessness
aboard a Zero-Gravity Flight.

If we keep this up, we might even go back to the Moon.

Check out some of the links below. thanks to you folks and SpaceRef.

Nice to be remembered, Dr. Ann S. Dinger at NASA Ames gave me a heads up
about the SOFIA flight test so went looking for other information.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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Passed by Larry Klaes, Thanks, - LRK -.
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Fusion energy breakthrough at Sandia Labs

KurzweilAI.net Apr. 25, 2007

*************************

An electrical circuit that should carry enough power to produce the
long-sought goal of controlled high-yield nuclear fusion and do it
every 10 seconds has undergone extensive preliminary experiments and
computer simulations at Sandia National Laboratories. Circuits on
an LTD device able to produce large electrical impulses rapidly and...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=6722&m=25748

Snip
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http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/rapid-fire-pulse.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 24, 2007


   Rapid-fire pulse brings Sandia Z method closer to goal of
   high-yield fusion reactor


     Revolutionary circuit fires thousands of times without flaw

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. " An electrical circuit that should carry enough power
to produce the long-sought goal of controlled high-yield nuclear fusion
and, equally important, do it every 10 seconds, has undergone extensive
preliminary experiments and computer simulations at Sandia National
Laboratories" Z machine facility.

Z, when it fires, is already the largest producer of X-rays on Earth and
has been used to produce fusion neutrons. But rapid bursts are necessary
for future generating plants to produce electrical power from sea water.
This had not been thought achievable till now.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

Snip

But, unable to produce fusion except episodically, the method has been
overshadowed by the technique called magnetic confinement --- a method
that uses a magnetic field to enclose a continuous fusion reaction from
which to draw power.

The electrical circuit emerging from the technological hills may change
the balance between these systems. Tagged as "revolutionary" by
ordinarily conservative researchers, it may close the gap between the
two methods.

The circuit is easily able to fire every 10.2 seconds in brief, powerful
bursts.

"This is the most significant advance in primary power generation in
many decades," says Keith Matzen, director of Sandia's Pulsed Power Center.

The new system, called a linear transformer driver (LTD), was created by
researchers at the Institute of High Current Electronics in Tomsk,
Russia, in collaboration with colleagues at Sandia.

Says Rick Stulen, Sandia Vice President for Science, Technology and
Research Foundations, "This new technology not only represents a
remarkable technical advance but also demonstrates the strong engagement
of Sandia's scientists and engineers in the international community."

Snip

Image
http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/images/fowler_nr.jpg
Caption:
*From Siberia, not Area 51: Sandia researcher Bill Fowler tests circuits
on an LTD device able to produce large electrical impulses rapidly and
repeatedly. *(Photo by Randy Montoya)

*Download 300dpi JPEG image, "fowler.jpg," 2.2MB
<http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/images/fowler.jpg>*
(Media are welcome to download/publish this image with related news
stories.)
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SOFIA aircraft with telescope flies. - LRK -

http://www.l-3com.com/news-events/pressrelease.aspx?releaseID=991713
*PRESS RELEASE*
Airborne Observatory Integrated by L-3 Communications Completes First
Flight from Waco, Texas Modification Center

- International Project Features 20-ton, German Telescope on NASA

                         747 Aircraft -

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2007--L-3 Communications (NYSE:
LLL) announced today that NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first test flight following extensive
aircraft modification and telescope integration at L-3 Integrated
Systems in Waco, Texas.

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP, which was extensively modified to carry a
45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter infrared
telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. SOFIA
maintains altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km), which is high above
more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor - to capture infrared
images and spectra that are not possible to capture using the largest
ground-based telescopes.

Snip

>>> Also at SpaceRef link. - LRK -
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=22508

* NASA SOFIA Airborne Observatory Completes First Test Flight
*

*PRESS RELEASE*
*Date Released:* Thursday, April 26, 2007
Source: L-3 Communications <http://www.l-3com.com>

*International Project Features 20-ton, German Telescope on NASA 747
Aircraft*

New York, NY ￜ L-3 Communications announced today that NASA's
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), completed its
first test flight following extensive aircraft modification and
telescope integration at the company's L-3 Integrated Systems (L-3 IS)
Waco, Texas facility. SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP extensively modified to
carry a 45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter
infrared telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center,
DLR. SOFIA will fly at altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km) - above
more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor - to capture infrared
images and spectra not possible by even the largest ground-based
telescopes.

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THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Satellite Feed Advisory: Professor Stephen Hawking Experiences
Freedom of Weightlessness Aboard Zero-Gravity Flight
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22501
-- Florida Science Student Stand-In for Professor Stephen Hawking During
Test-Run Weightless Flight on April 25, 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22500

"Zero Gravity Corporation, the provider of weightless flight experiences
for the general public, hosted renowned British cosmologist and best-selling author, Professor
Stephen Hawking, aboard a historic zero-gravity flight."


-- Climate catastrophes in the Solar System
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22502

"Earth sits between two worlds that have been devastated by climate
catastrophes. In the effort to combat global warming, our neighbours can provide valuable insights into
the way climate catastrophes affect planets".
>>>> Also see at ESA - http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM2EHMJC0F_index_0.html
- LRK -

-- First high quality wide field LOFAR image
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22499

"LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) will be the largest radio telescope ever
built, currently under construction by a consortium led by ASTRON, the Netherlands Foundation
for Research in Astronomy. When finished, LOFAR will consist of 15,000 small antennas,
distributed over 77 stations in the North East of the Netherlands and nearby parts of Germany."


-- The X PRIZE Foundation and Holloman AFB Announce Partnership to
Present World's Largest Air & Space Flight Demonstration
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22505

"Today, the X PRIZE Foundation and Holloman Air Force Base (HAFB)
announced a partnership intended to create the world's largest "Air & Space Flight
Demonstration." This year's expanded Wirefly X PRIZE Cup activities are expected to result in an 8-fold
increase in competing teams and crowds. The flights and ground events will be held in Las Cruces,
N.M. and HAFB in Alamagordo from October 24 � 28th, 2007."


-- NASA HQ Mars Exploration Program Request For Information
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=24021

"The Government is seeking information regarding lightweight, low-cost
technologies and techniques to provide safe entry and either low-g ("soft") or high-g
("hard") landing for these payloads. For purposes of this RFI, "soft" landing is defined as Entry,
Descent, and Landing (EDL)loads that are less than the launch loads, and "hard" landing is
considered EDL loads higher or significantly higher than launch loads (e.g., impactors or penetrators).
In all cases, onboard instrumentation is expected to survive landing for operations for up to
several Earth years on the Martian surface."

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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