Reality Check

August 12, 2008

The United States’ first chance to cut some time off a planned five-year hiatus in launching people into orbit is over.

NASA told us yesterday it’s giving up on flying a crew aboard the new Orion capsules until September 2014 at the earliest. With the shuttle program shutting down in two years, the agency had hoped Orion would be able to fly crews to the International Space Station as early as 2013.

But the agency needed more money and fewer technical problems to make that happen. In a conference call with reporters on Monday, program managers said the accelerated development scheduled was officially off and that contractors on the program will be notified to slow their pace to match available funds.

"The window of opportunity for us to accelerate (the program) is closing. In fact, this summer with the re-alignment of our schedule, it's closed," said Jeff Hanley, the program manager for NASA’s new exploration program called Constellation.

Uncle Sam will be counting on its good friend (except for this week) Russia to ferry crews to and from the space station until Orion is ready to fly. Course, Congress hasn’t given its official blessing to that plan by lifting a trade embargo slapped against Russia to protest trade practices with Iran that presumably helped Iran develop nuclear weapons technology.

Seems like a good time for China to make a pitch to be our space taxi service. Judging from all the sky-walking and zero-g simulations during the stunning Olympics opener, they’re definitely in the market.

Caption: Not so fast. NASA rendering of Ares rocket leaving the launch pad.

A Space-Age Speedo

July 07, 2008

I remember the 1972 Summer Olympics for two reasons: the Munich massacre and Mark Spitz. I had just turned 12, an extremely impressionable age, and I was spellbound by the drama unfolding on TV (a horrifying preview of terrorist attacks to come) when a Palestinian group known as Black September kidnapped and later killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. The worst part was the botched rescue effort. If the violence wasn't enough to jar me into puberty, there was the iconic image later that week of seven-time gold medalist Spitz in his tiny stars-and-stripes Speedo.

Fast-forward 36 years. We still have the terrorist issues, unfortunately, but take a look at these swimsuits:

The full-body sheaths have nothing to do with modesty. (Even though they cover more real estate than typical bathing suits, the fit is literally skin-tight.) Rather, the suits are the latest -- and apparently the greatest -- offerings for swimmers intent on speed.

Since the LZR Racer suits debuted in February, 44 out of 48 world records were set by swimmers donning the new duds. The secret of Speedo’s success? A new seamless fabric that slides through water and polyurethane panels to mold the body into more aerodynamic shapes.

Speedo turned to NASA to help with its design, which tested about 60 fabrics and shapes through wind tunnels at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., to determine how much drag, or resistance, each material created. The smoother the fabric, the lower the drag -- whether in air or water. Hope NASA doesn’t think the suits are too racy for its Spinoffs magazine.