AFT Blog
The last time humankind sent people to the moon was in 1972. I was still in grade school and remember well those missions to space! Now, 50 years later, there are new efforts to return to the moon. One of those efforts is the ARTEMIS rocket. ARTEMIS 1 launched on November 16, 2022. The unmanned Orion crew module splashed down this past Sunday on De...
Getting things into orbit around the earth is hard. And expensive. The privatization trend in space technologies has been ongoing for a number of years, and new technologies are reducing costs significantly. A few weeks ago Sierra Space was joined by Blue Origin, Boeing and several other organizations in releasing details of their plan to deliver a...
In case you have not noticed, rockets can be really loud. Sound suppression on vertically launched rockets (and the Space Shuttle, back when it was flying) is more important than most of you would think. And for a different reason than most of you would guess.
Every so often I get to talk about my first job which was in the aerospace industry where I first learned about sound suppression systems. Today AFT software is used on several of these systems by our customers in the aerospace industry as well as NASA.
The flowrate of water used in the sound suppression process is enormous. Which is why they are often called "deluge systems".
It was sometime around 1988 and it was pitch dark outside. I and some of my aerospace colleagues from work were driving in a car caravan from San Diego to Edwards Air Force Base at the ungodly hour of 3AM. The Space Shuttle Discovery was scheduled to land that morning and we wanted to see it.
Unless you happen to be marooned somewhere on Jupiter or beyond it has been hard to miss all the talk about Mars in recent days and weeks. What actually is on Mars? Water? Life? Can we send humans to Mars? Should we send humans to Mars? If we can and should, how can and should we do it?
News on the development of drones (also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs - or UUVs if underwater) is on the rise. The applications for UAV technology to support engineering activity seem endless. However, as with all new technologies, UAVs can potentially negatively interfere with pre-existing operations, laws and regulations, general accepted practice, as well as common decency.
Many of our customers find it interesting that the foundational code developers at AFT are former rocket engineers. Jeff Olsen and I wrote the bulk of AFT Fathom™, AFT Arrow™, and AFT Impulse™ from 1993-2003. Jeff is currently AFT's Vice President of Technology. We both hold B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering.