All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2010!
by ANN News Editor Tom Patton
It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the
ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did
the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days...
while also chastising those people or entities that did all they
could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace
community has managed to accomplish.
Thankfully, 2010 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest
among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No
doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2010 were numerous,
and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought
to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world
the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and
actions.
It is ANN's honor to recognize persons/organizations or groups that
qualify as our Aero-Heroes for 2010... in something of an
informal order -- Saving the 'best' for last. Let us know what you
think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or
omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who
made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you
this year, and you didn't let us down.
ANN will continue to list our remaining Top choices over the
next few day's, but in order to kick off the New Year right, let's
enjoy another selection from our Heroes List for 2010...
Aero-Hero: SpaceX
When discussing the year's biggest accomplishments, it would be
impossible not to put SpaceX at the top of the list. The company
this year proved that it does not require the government to safely
put an object into orbit, and return it safely to Earth, and may
well have given us a glimpse of the future of U.S. human
spaceflight.
The accomplishment did not come without a few hiccups along the
way, but we learned from those setbacks that there might be a more
efficient way to do things. When problems arose with the Falcon 9
launch vehicle, SpaceX proved that it does not require weeks of
study and a half dozen committees to solve a problem and put a
program back on track. From a pre-ignition abort during an engine
test in March to the discovery of small cracks in the rocket's
second stage engine nozzle prior to the second launch, SpaceX
took the setbacks in stride, solved problems, and moved ahead.
On June 5th, we were privileged to be able to watch the first
launch of an entirely privately-funded space vehicle at Cape
Canaveral. While the launch finally occurred at just 15 minutes
prior to the close of a day-long launch window, the Falcon 9 rocket
boosted a payload into precisely the intended orbit. SpaceX said
nominal shutdown and orbit was almost exactly 250km. Telemetry
showed essentially a bullseye: ~0.2% on perigee and ~1% on
apogee.
The day was not without its drama. First, there was the
weather, and then a telemetry issue with the vehicle destruct
system pushed the launch into the afternoon. That problem was no
sooner resolved than a small sailboat strayed into the launch
safety range, causing it to go red again. Finally, at shortly after
one, the countdown resumed. But at T- :02 seconds, the launch was
aborted, as an engine parameter fell out of its nominal range. The
rocket scientists at SpaceX worked through that problem with the
launch window deadline looming. The countdown resumed about 1430,
and 15 minutes later, Falcon 9 rumbled, and lifted into the sky on
her way to orbit.
SpaceX repeated the success, becoming the first commercial
company in history to re-enter a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit atop a
Falcon 9 rocket at 1043 EST from Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force
Station at Cape Canaveral on December 8th. SpaceX had been granted
the first-ever permit from the FAA to recover an object from orbit
in November, and less than a month later, they pulled off a feat
performed by only six nations or government agencies: the United
States, Russia, China, Japan, India, and the European Space Agency.
The Dragon vehicle made a couple of trips around the Earth and
successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about three hours
later.
The launch was delayed for a day when a routine inspection of
the launch vehicle turned up two small cracks in the rocket's
second stage engine nozzle. SpaceX completed repairs to the cracked
nozzle within a day, and the launch went off without a hitch the
following day.
What SpaceX was able to accomplish this year was truly
remarkable. In many ways, the entire commercial spaceflight
industry was riding on that first Falcon 9 launch in June, and the
fact that it went off successfully, and was followed by a second,
successful launch and recovery of the Dragon vehicle from orbit has
moved the U.S. a giant step closer to the reality of commercial
re-supply of ISS, and eventual commercial transportation of crews
to and from the station. For being first, and doing it well, SpaceX
is one of ANN's heroes of 2010.