Thursday, 18 October 2007

Indonesian Space Force Command

Indonesian Space Force Command  
(Komando Angkatan Antariksa Indonesia)




F-16 Fighting Falcon

F-16 Fighting Falcon "Viper"



F-16 Fighting Falcon
A USAF F-16C over Iraq
Role Multirole Fighter
National origin United States
Manufacturer General Dynamics
Lockheed Martin
First flight 2 February 1974
Introduction 17 August 1978
Status Active
Primary users United States Air Force
25 other users (see operators page)
Number built 4,450+[1]
Unit cost F-16A/B: US$14.6 million (1998 dollars)[2]
F-16C/D: US$18.8 million (1998 dollars)[2]
Variants General Dynamics F-16 VISTA
Developed into General Dynamics F-16XL
Mitsubishi F-2


The original F-16 was designed as a lightweight air-to-air day fighter. Air-to-ground responsibilities transformed the first production F-16s into multirole fighters. The empty weight of the Block 10 F-16A is 15,600 pounds. The empty weight of the Block 50 is 19,200 pounds. The A in F-16A refers to a Block 1 through 20 single-seat aircraft. The B in F-16B refers to the two-seat version. The letters C and D were substituted for A and B, respectively, beginning with Block 25. Block is an important term in tracing the F-16's evolution. Basically, a block is a numerical milestone. The block number increases whenever a new production configuration for the F-16 is established. Not all F-16s within a given block are the same. They fall into a number of block subsets called miniblocks. These sub-block sets are denoted by capital letters following the block number (Block 15S, for example). From Block 30/32 on, a major block designation ending in 0 signifies a General Electric engine; one ending in 2 signifies a Pratt & Whitney engine.
The F-16A, a single-seat model, first flew in December 1976. The first operational F-16A was delivered in January 1979 to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The F-16B, a two-seat model, has tandem cockpits that are about the same size as the one in the A model. Its bubble canopy extends to cover the second cockpit. To make room for the second cockpit, the forward fuselage fuel tank and avionics growth space were reduced. During training, the forward cockpit is used by a student pilot with an instructor pilot in the rear cockpit.
  • Block 1 and Block 5 F-16s were manufactured through 1981 for USAF and for four European air forces. Most Blocks 1 and 5 aircraft were upgraded to a Block 10 standard in a program called Pacer Loft in 1982.
  • Block 10 aircraft (312 total) were built through 1980. The differences between these early F-16 versions are relatively minor.
  • Block 15 aircraft represent the most numerous version of the more than 3,600 F-16s manufactured to date. The transition from Block 10 to Block 15 resulted in two hardpoints added to the chin of the inlet. The larger horizontal tails, which grew in area by about thirty percent are the most noticeable difference between Block 15 and previous F-16 versions.
The F-16C and F-16D aircraft, which are the single- and two-place counterparts to the F-16A/B, incorporate the latest cockpit control and display technology. All F-16s delivered since November 1981 have built-in structural and wiring provisions and systems architecture that permit expansion of the multirole flexibility to perform precision strike, night attack and beyond-visual-range interception missions. All active units and many Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units have converted to the F-16C/D, which is deployed in a number of Block variants.
  • Block 25 added the ability to carry AMRAAM to the F-16 as well as night/precision ground-attack capabilities, as well as an improved radar, the Westinghouse (now Northrop-Grumman) AN/APG-68, with increased range, better resolution, and more operating modes.
  • Block 30/32 added two new engines -- Block 30 designates a General Electric F110-GE-100 engine, and Block 32 designates a Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engine. Block 30/32 can carry the AGM-45 Shrike and the AGM-88A HARM, and like the Block 25, it can carry the AGM-65 Maverick.
  • Block 40/42 - F-16CG/DG - gained capabilities for navigation and precision attack in all weather conditions and at night with the LANTIRN pods and more extensive air-to-ground loads, including the GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-24 Paveway laser-guided bombs and the GBU-15. Block 40/42 production began in 1988 and ran through 1995. Currently, the Block 40s are being upgraded with several Block 50 systems: ALR-56M threat warning system, the ALE-47 advanced chaff/flare dispenser, an improved performance battery, and Falcon UP structural upgrade.
  • Block 50/52 Equipped with a Northrop Grumman APG-68(V)7 radar and a General Electric F110-GE-129 Increased Performance Engine, the aircraft are also capable of using the Lockheed Martin low-altitude navigation and targeting for night (LANTIRN) system. Technology enhancements include color multifunctional displays and programmable display generator, a new Modular Mission Computer, a Digital Terrain System, a new color video camera and color triple-deck video recorder to record the pilot's head-up display view, and an upgraded data transfer unit. In May 2000, the Air Force certitified Block 50/52 [aka Block 50 Plus] F-16s to carry the CBU-103/104/105 Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser, the AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon, the GBU-31/32 Joint Direct Attack Munition, and the Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System. Beginning in mid-2000, Lockheed-Martin began to deliver Block 50/52 variants equipped with an on-board oxygen generation system (OBOGS) designed to replace the obsolete, original LOX system.
  • Block 50D/52D Wild Weasel F-16CJ (CJ means block 50) comes in C-Model (1 seat) and D-Model (2 seat) versions. It is best recognized for its ability to carry the AGM-88 HARM and the AN/ASQ-213 HARM Targeting System (HTS) in the suppression of enemy air defenses [SEAD] mission. The HTS allows HARM to be employed in the range-known mode providing longer range shots with greater target specificity. This specialized version of the F-16, which can also carry the ALQ-119 Electronic Jamming Pod for self protection, became the sole provider for Air Force SEAD missions when the F-4G Wild Weasel was retired from the Air Force inventory. The lethal SEAD mission now rests solely on the shoulders of the F-16 Harm Targeting System. Although F-18s and EA-6Bs are HARM capable, the F-16 provides the ability to use the HARM in its most effective mode. The original concept called for teaming the F-15 Precision Direction Finding (PDF) and the F-16 HTS. Because this teaming concept is no longer feasible, the current approach calls for the improvement of the HTS capability. The improvement will come from the Joint Emitter Targeting System (JETS), which facilitates the use of HARM's most effective mode when launched from any JETS capable aircraft.
  • Block 60 - In May 1998 the UAE announced selection of the Block 60 F-16 to be delivered between 2002-2004. The upgrade package consists of a range of modern systems including conformal fuel tanks for greater range, new cockpit displays, an internal sensor suite, a new mission computer and other advanced features including a new agile beam radar.

Specifications (F-16C Block 30)

Orthographically projected diagram of the F-16.

Testing of the F-35 Diverterless Supersonic Inlet on an F-16 testbed. The original intake is shown in the top image.
Data from USAF sheet,[2] International Directory of Military Aircraft,[103] GlobalSecurity,[104] AerospaceWeb[105]
General characteristics
Performance

M61A1 on display.
Armament
Avionics
Sumber:

Wikipedia


TNI AU Indonesia

Thursday, 11 October 2007

Teknologi Kapal Luar Angkasa III



Mars Rover Investigates Signs of Steamy Martian Past


Added and Edited By:

Arip Nurahman Department of Physics Faculty of sciences and Mathematics
Indonesia University of Education
&
Follower Open Course Ware at MIT-Harvard University, U.S.A.








SAN FRANCISCO - Researchers using NASA's twin Mars rovers are sorting out two possible origins for one of Spirit's most important discoveries, while also getting Spirit to a favorable spot for surviving the next Martian winter.

The puzzle is what produced a patch of nearly pure silica -- the main ingredient of window glass -- that Spirit found last May. It could have come from either a hot-spring environment or an environment called a fumarole, in which acidic steam rises through cracks. On Earth, both of these types of settings teem with microbial life.

"Whichever of those conditions produced it, this concentration of silica is probably the most significant discovery by Spirit for revealing a habitable niche that existed on Mars in the past," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the rovers' science payload. "The evidence is pointing most strongly toward fumarolic conditions, like you might see in Hawaii and in Iceland. Compared with deposits formed at hot springs, we know less about how well fumarolic deposits can preserve microbial fossils. That's something needing more study here on Earth."

Halfway around Mars from Spirit, Opportunity continues adding information about types of wet environments on ancient Mars other than hot springs or fumaroles. It is examining layers exposed inside a crater, but still near the top of a stack of sulfate-rich layers hundreds of meters (yards) thick. Scientists read a history of conditions that evolved from wetter to drier, based on findings by Opportunity and observations of the region by Mars orbiters.

The solar-powered rovers have been active on Mars since January 2004, more than 15 times longer than originally planned. Their third Martian winter will not reach minimum sunshine until June, but Spirit already needs two days of power output to drive for an hour.

"Spirit is going into the winter with much more dust on its solar panels than in previous years," said John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for the rovers. "The last Martian winter, we didn't move Spirit for about seven months. This time, the rover is likely to be stationary longer and with significantly lower available energy each Martian day."

Dust storms that darkened Martian skies this past June dropped dust onto both rovers. However, gusts cleaned Opportunity's panels, and Opportunity is closer to the equator than Spirit is, so concerns for winter survival focus on Spirit. The team has selected a sun-facing slope of about 25 degrees on the northern edge of a low plateau, "Home Plate," as a safe winter haven for Spirit.

Both rovers resumed productive field work after the June dust storms. Spirit explored the top of Home Plate, in the vicinity of silica-rich soil it discovered before the dust storms hit.

"This stuff is more than 90 percent silica," Squyres said. "There aren't many ways to explain a concentration so high." One way is to selectively remove silica from the native volcanic rocks and concentrate it in the deposits Spirit found. Hot springs can do that, dissolving silica at high heat and then dropping it out of solution as the water cools. Another way is to selectively remove almost everything else and leave the silica behind. Acidic steam at fumaroles can do that. Scientists are still assessing both possible origins. One reason Squyres favors the fumarole story is that the silica-rich soil on Mars has an enhanced level of titanium. On Earth, titanium levels are relatively high in some fumarolic deposits.

Mineral mapping and high-resolution imagery from Mars orbiters are helping scientists put the findings of Spirit and Opportunity into broader geological context. Opportunity's exploration of the Meridiani region has taken advantage of the natural excavations at impact craters to inspect layers extending several meters below the surface of the regional plain. These sulfate-rich layers bear extensive evidence for a wet, acidic past environment. They are a small upper fraction of the sulfate-rich layering exposed elsewhere in Meridiani and examined from orbit.

"We see evidence from orbit for clay minerals under the layered sulfate materials," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the rovers' science payload. "They indicate less acidic conditions. The big picture appears to be a change from a more open hydrological system, with rainfall, to more arid conditions with groundwater rising to the surface and evaporating, leaving sulfate salts behind."

JPL, a division of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
Technology development makes missions possible. Each Mars mission is part of a continuing chain of innovation. Each relies on past missions for proven technologies and contributes its own innovations to future missions. This chain allows NASA to push the boundaries of what is currently possible, while still relying on proven technologies.
Below are examples of the way in which the Mars Exploration Rover mission relies on past technologies and contributes new ones.

Technologies of Broad Benefit
launch vehicle Propulsion: for providing the energy to get to Mars and conduct long-term studies
Mars Exploration Rover 2 Power: for providing more efficient and increased electricity to the spacecraft and its subsystems
DSN Telecommunications: for sending commands and receiving data faster and in greater amounts
spacecraft hardware Avionics: electronics for operating the spacecraft and its subsystems
Mission control Software Engineering: for providing the computing and commands necessary to operate the spacecraft and its subsystems

In-situ Exploration and Sample Return
Entry, Descent, and Landing Entry, Descent, and Landing: for ensuring precise and safe landings
Mars Exploration Rover 2 Autonomous Planetary Mobility: for enabling the rovers to make decisions and avoid hazards on their own
Severe Environment Technologies for Severe Environments: for making systems robust enough to handle extreme conditions in space and on Mars
Sample Return Technologies Sample Return Technologies: for collecting and returning rock, soil, and atmospheric samples back to Earth for further laboratory analysis
The spacecraft in the cleanroom Planetary Protection Technologies: for cleaning and sterilizing spacecraft and handling soil, rock, and atmospheric samples


Science Instruments
Artists concept Odyssey in orbit around Mars Remote Science Instrumentation: for collecting Mars data from orbit
In-situ Instrumentation In-situ Instrumentation: for collecting Mars data from the surface

Sumber:

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
.

Arip Nurahman

Semoga Bermanfaat

Monday, 8 October 2007

Teknologi Kapal Luar Angkasa II

Lightning Protection for the Next Generation Spacecraft





Added and Edited By:

Arip Nurahman Department of Physics, Faculty of sciences and Mathematics
Indonesia University of Education

&

Follower Open Course Ware at MIT-Harvard University, U.S.A.





This artist's concept depicts the completed lightning protection system at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B. Credit: NASA






At Launch Pad 39B, pilings are being pounded into the ground to help construct lightning towers for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. Pad B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including Ares I-X which is scheduled for April 2009. Credit: NASA/George Shelton

Thunder rumbles in the distance as darkening clouds gather above NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, where a sleek Ares I launch vehicle stands awaiting an upcoming flight. A blinding lightning flash suddenly streaks down from the sky, striking one of the pad's tall steel masts. The surge of electrical current quickly is diverted away from the rocket and carried safely into the ground.

This scenario hasn't happened yet; the Ares I rocket is still in development, and NASA is just beginning to transition Launch Pad 39B from a space shuttle facility into the launch site for the Constellation Program's Ares I crew launcher. But lightning is a well-known danger in central Florida, and a team of NASA and contractor personnel already is working to design and build a new lightning protection system that's larger than any the spaceport has ever seen. The new system features large cables strung between three 594-foot-tall steel and fiberglass towers. Called a catenary wire system, it will dominate the launch area's skyline.

The new system will provide better protection from lightning strikes and help avoid delays to the launch schedule by collecting more information on the strike for analysis by launch managers.

Launch Pads 40 and 41, located south of Launch Complex 39, each have lightning protection systems similar to the new version. Each tower is topped with a fiberglass mast and a series of catenary wires and down conductors designed to divert lightning away from the rocket and service structure. This configuration helps keep the vehicle isolated from dangerous currents.

Lightning protection systems have steadily evolved as the space program has progressed. The Apollo system, for example, was a bonded system. "A bonded structure is part of the launch structure," says Constellation Senior Pad Project Manager Jose Perez Morales. "Obviously, if you get a lightning strike, it doesn't matter how well you place your wires -- you're going to get current going through the structure."

For the space shuttle, the lightning protection system consists of a lightning mast on the top of each pad's service structure and two catenary wires. This system provides shielding to the space shuttle and diverts strike currents down to the ground, making it an isolated system and an improvement over the Apollo arrangement. The system under development for the Constellation Program’s next-generation vehicles would significantly increase the shielding level and further separate the electrical current from vital launch hardware.

Additionally, technology has advanced considerably since the early days of space exploration. Lightning detection has become simpler and faster as computer modeling has become more sophisticated.

"In the years of Apollo, most of these things were done by hand," Perez notes. "Because of the new computers and the ability to do a lot of probability models, the whole thing has evolved. That's how they can now design more effective lightning protection systems."

Now there are decades' worth of local lightning data recorded, so computer models are not only faster, but more accurate than ever.

There's another benefit to the new system: An array of sensors, both on the ground and the mobile launcher, will help determine the vehicle's condition after a nearby lightning strike. This can prevent days of delays. Currently, "If there's been a strike and you're not sure whether the vehicle was hit, then at the very least you could have an impact on your schedule because you'll have to stop and test," says NASA Project Manager Lori Jones.

Ivey's Construction Inc., the contractor in charge of building the lightning protection system, received NASA's go-ahead to proceed in September. Construction began in November with the arrival of large cranes and concrete pilings. The system's foundation will include 216 of these pilings extending up to 55 feet below ground. The massive steel towers will be partially assembled horizontally on the ground, then lifted into the vertical position by a 60-story-tall crane. Construction is expected to be complete in 2010.

According to NASA Construction Manager Jason Ritter, along with the standard challenges associated with this construction effort, nature will provide a few of its own.

"Most of the work isn't technically difficult, but it's big and time-consuming," Ritter says. "When you're working on a launch pad that has lightning and high winds and sea breezes, and it's an operational pad, those are the things we consider difficult to work through."

Sumber:

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Lightning_Protection_For_The_Next_Generation_Spacecraft_999.html


Arip Nurahman

Semoga Bermanfaat