Dick Stafford's Rocket Dungeon Blog 
Rocket Dungeon Posts
Sport Rocketry / Scale Models / Space Shuttle
Move over plasma thrusters, black powder is on the job (2008-11-30)
Check out the following excerpt from NASA Space Flight : Later in the day, Endeavour carried out the deployment of a solar cell experiment Picosat on behalf of the Department of Defence (DOD). ... [Read More]
Gyro stabilization and the big a$$ rocket of the day (2009-04-06)Clark Lindsey points to the latest flight of the Gyroc VTVL testbed . This gyroscopically stabilized testbed uses commercially available long-burn model rocket motors for takeoff and landing. While ... [Read More]
Shuttle SRB splashdown (2009-04-28)Photo from nasa1fan's Flickr set : [Read More]
Concept Ship Friday (update) (2010-01-22)First up is some neat retro stuff from Scott Lowther and his Unwanted Blog. In his post, About the Landing Boats , he expounds on how he 'derived' the design for the lifting body style ... [Read More]
Modeling alert: 30 years of future launch vehicles (2010-02-04)Clark Lindsey lets us know about Marcus Lindroos' archive about "future launch vehicle" designs that arose between 1963 and 1993 (the intro says through 2001, so I assume there is more to c ... [Read More]
More fire and ice (2010-02-26)Last Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Test (NASA, Space Shuttle, 02/25/10) , originally uploaded by nasa1fan/MSFC . Last Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Test (NASA, Space Shuttle, 02/25/10) This was the ... [Read More]
Air Launched Sortie Vehicle, Part 3 (2010-03-22)The Space Review has the 3rd part of their article Fire in the sky: the Air Launched Sortie Vehicle of the early 1980s (part 3) , by Dwayne Day. (I mentioned Parts 1 and 2 in a minor way ... [Read More]
Rumors of its death may have been greatly exaggerated (2010-03-25)Space Shuttles Will Keep Flying Through Early 2011, Report Says , Space.com I Smell A Compromise In The Making , NASA Watch [Read More]
When rocket designers didn't think small - the ROMBUS Family (2010-04-21)Scott Lowther presents a cool diagram (to the right) showing the relative scale of the ICARUS, Ithacus, ROMBUS, ROMBUS F, ROMBUS III, Pegasus, Icarus Jr. to subjects such as the Space Sh ... [Read More]
Big a$$ (concept) rockets of the day (2010-04-27)Scott Lowther has a hat trick of cool articles for sale: Boeing Advanced Multipurpose Large Launch Vehicle (AMLLV) , "perhaps the most powerful {conventional?} booster ever envisioned… in it’s ... [Read More]
Atlantis, ISS, the Sun (2010-05-20)Amazing photo of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station taken on May 16, 2010 from Madrid, Spain. Full Story . Credit: Thierry Legault [Read More]
Not many people get to view a Shuttle launch from this vantage point (2010-06-07)Lt. Col. Gabriel Green and Capt. Zachary Bartoe patrol the airspace in an F-15E Strike Eagle as the Space Shuttle Atlantis launches May 14, 2010, at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Colonel ... [Read More]
Tarkus II-dot-1 (2010-07-09)Here is the Tarkus II sporting its new shiny nose cone bottle. I also added two small cones to the previously empty tubes on the front end. The original offset nose precluded adding cones to ... [Read More]
Mega Review: Vintage Estes (2011-01-14)This post covers the following out-of-production Estes kits: Helio*Copter (Kit #1995) Sizzler (Kit #1906) Starter Set Skinny Mini (Kit #0880) Space Shuttle (Kit #1284) ... [Read More]
Rocket fans, mark your calendars (2011-02-21)Glory Date: Wednesday, Feb. 23 Time: 5:09 a.m. EST Location: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Coverage: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv (3:30 a.m. EST start) Space Shuttle Discovery Date: Thursday, Feb. 24 ... [Read More]
Bye bye Discovery (2011-02-25)Space Shuttle Discovery STS-133 , originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video . Feb. 24, 2011 - STS-133, the 38th and final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery , OV-003. Click ... [Read More]
Twilight of the Shuttle reference posts (updated with part 3) (2011-07-06)Wayne Hill has started a nice series of posts on the Space Shuttle: Twilight of the Shuttle, Part 1 - The Beginning and Stats; Notes on early Shuttle concepts and statistics about the one ... [Read More]
Update on the new North Coast Rocketry (2011-10-10)Matt "ManofSteele" Steele has been posting some updates on YORF. He had planned on an October 1st launch but reports he is behind because he was in Europe for business (my hear bleeds) and was set ... [Read More]
Here's my little Halloween post. Boo! (2011-10-31)My Jack-O-Lantern didn't turn out as well as planned. Probably due to lack of planning. So, I'll start with Space.com's gallery of spacey lanterns . Here's the STS-114 punkin carved by ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top Ten of 2011 (2011-12-27)In no particular order.... Early in the year, I completed transferring reviews from the old EMRR (see the My Rocket Reviews Page ). I transferred (and updated) all but eight and, while I ... [Read More]
Last look inside Atlantis before the lights go out (plus more) (2011-12-30)collectSpace has posted a series of cool photo's inside (and below) the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I thought I had heard that NASA had already powered her down, but evidently the lights ... [Read More]
Phobos-Grunt, imaged from Nice, France (2012-01-04)Thierry Legault once again has spun his magic and captured ground images of the Phobos-Grunt . His web page indicates that the Phobos-Grunt is not spinning but is moving backwards with respect ... [Read More]
I think I destroyed Flickr (or at least part of it) (2012-01-11)I was just favoriting a bunch of retro Space Shuttle concept photos on the San Diego Air and Space Museum's photo stream and successfully embedded a couple. Then, all of a sudden, they were ... [Read More]
JATO of the day: Teledyne Ryan UAV, Drone, RPV (2012-01-13)Teledyne Ryan UAV, Drone, RPV , a photo by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on Flickr. San Diego Air and Space has restored their Space Shuttle history photos. At least some of them. ... [Read More]
Shuttle Mock-up on the move (2012-02-16)I got this photo as part of a slide-show provided via a private email list. Evidently, the Space Shuttle Mock-up is being moved from the KSC Visitors Center to Space Center Houston. It ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-02-18)Warning...time sensitive tweet alert! Some quality wonkiness for wx lovers. RT @ stuostro :Models struggling cuz of this: yfrog.com/h8qgznp — Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-02-24)The World’s Largest Museum to 3D Print Copies of Priceless Artifacts (video) - Mashable - The Smithsonan is embarking on a project to digitize some 137 million artifacts. That should ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-03-08)Proving the Principle - A History of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory - High Power Rocketry Blog follower and fellow rocketeer Sascha pointed me to: ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-03-12)The Shuttle is gone but not forgotten: Fuck Yeah Space Shuttle (Note: indents often mean the item came from Twitter. Could ya' tell?)--- ▼ ATREX launch from Wallops has ... [Read More]
Technology '77 and '78 (2012-04-02)I found a couple of old issues of IEEE Spectrum, the Technology '77 and '78 issues. These were heavy on words and light on photos so I merely scanned the covers. As I thumbed through them, I jotted ... [Read More]
SpotTheShuttle2012 (2012-04-17)Today, the Space Shuttle Discovery , perched atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), buzzed DC on its way to Dulles Airport and its final resting place in the National Air and Space Museum's ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-04-17)Space Shuttle launch set to Countdown by Rush Link Lattte 178 - DRB A still photo from Armadillo Stig-Stiga engine test today, because rockets are pretty. twitpic.com/9b1gn3 — Ben ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-04-19)Billionaire-Backed Space Venture Planetary Resources to be Unveiled April 24 - Space.com - The new venture, named Planetary Resources , "will overlay two critical sectors — space e ... [Read More]
Discovery and Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center (2012-04-19)Today, Space Shuttle Discovery was formally signed over to the National Air and Space Museum. The highlight of the ceremonies was the opportunity to see two Shuttles, Enterprise and Discovery, ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-04-24)Intrepid Museum/Space Shuttle Enterprise - The Enterprise is now slated to be moved on Friday the 27th. This site seems to be a good source of updates. The big space news today is ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-05-01)Conroy “Virtus” Article - Unwanted Blog - Scott points to his article on ".... a twin-fuselage heavy lift aircraft built from B-52 parts meant to serve as the Space Shuttle ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-05-19)If you're up (and I won't be), you can watch the Falcon 9 launch on NASA TV . Countdown coverage starts at 3:30AM EST with the launch currently scheduled for 4:55 AM EST. Pucker ... [Read More]
Another Shuttle Mockup (2012-05-29)Credit: Bill Novak I just learned that the old Rockwell/Boeing Downey facility is now home of Downey Studios , an independent film studio (an has been for a while). The ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-06-02)Space Shuttle Replica Docks in Houston Lake, Launches 'Shuttlebration' , Space.com (6/2) Shuttlebration tag on Flickr and on the Clear Lake, TX group Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel ... [Read More]
B612 Foundation's Sentinel infrared space telescope (2012-06-28)Today, the space blogoverse is afire about the B612 Foundation 's announcement that they will be building the first private deep space satellite, the Sentinel Space Telescope , I snipped an ... [Read More]
Former Astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly to space, has passed away (2012-07-23)On June 18, 1983, Sally Kristen Ride, PhD flew to space and the history books aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. She inspired us all. Below is a statement from Sally Ride Science 's website. ... [Read More]
The last Shuttle flight (update 3) (2012-09-21)As everyone is aware, Space Shuttle Endeavour is making its final flight to Cali. This will be the last time a Shuttle will be in the air at an altitude higher than that attainable by a crane. ... [Read More]
A (short) tale of air and water (2012-09-24)Here are the two flying things that I have on deck. I assembled the Quest water rocket and converted a Guillows Space Shuttle to launch off of my 1/2" PVC launcher. I chose a 2-L pop bottle ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-10-16)ALPHA CENTAURI HAS A PLANET! , Bad Astronomy EVEL KNIEVEL | TRIUMPH OVER THE FOUNTAINS AT CAESARS PALACE , The Selvedge Yard Meteor Shower Created by Halley’s Comet Peaks This Week , ... [Read More]
Insanely detailed Shuttle model (update) (2012-11-02)Check out this thread on the Aircraft Resource Center (ARC) forum: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 . (hat tip to paul.nortness on TRF) Update: Here is link that provides photos of ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top-10 for 2012 (2012-12-22)I see Chris Michielssen posted his top ten for 2012. So, I see no reason to wait to post mine: 1. Space Shuttle Discovery buzzes Washington DC . 2. Discovery and Enterprise nose-to-nose at ... [Read More]
Ginormous photo dump...the Flickr version! (2013-03-09)The 2000 pound gorilla of the photo-hosting world is Flickr. Here is a very small smattering of photos that I 'favorited' this week. I though these deserved their own post. As usual, if you hover ... [Read More]
Happy Easter to my fellow rocket and space fans (2013-03-31)Peeps Show: National Air and Space Museum Welcomes Discovery , a photo by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on Flickr. Finally, an on-topic Easter-themed photo! Easter Peeps Welcome ... [Read More]
Endeavour/ST-134 Mach 6.2 recovery (2014-01-13)Attached is a great photo from MARS Scientific /NASA Langley/Space Shuttle Program Office. Per the MARS Scientific site: NASA Space Shuttle Reentry at Mach 6.2. MARS infrared observations ... [Read More]
The last Shuttle stack (2014-08-14)Or should I say the stacking of a Shuttle? Caption via Flickr: JSC2014-E-077299 (14 Aug. 2014) --- Space Center Houston's space shuttle replica Independence is hoisted for placement atop the ... [Read More]
Check out this wind tunnel model of the Buran (2015-09-01)If you click through to the source album, you will see what is purportedly a wind tunnel model of the Buran, the Soviet version of the Space Shuttle. I did no fact checking, but this is pretty cool ... [Read More]
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