sr71 blackbird
there's lots about this wonderful plane, so it's got it's own page...to go to my sr71 page click here [link removed as it's a repeat of something on the main site, and contains too many images].

aurora
this plane does not exist! or so says the american government/military, unfortuately they put in a bill to the senate for part of it's manufacture, which doesn't seem to tally with their position... some even claim to have seen it flying.

this plane is mooted as the replacement for blackbird (above)... it's reputed to have a top speed of mach 5 and a service ceiling of over 35km (the stratosphere)! it is also supposed to be stealthy... considering the 40 years since the last one in which the us have had to design and make it, those figures aren't quite so improbable as they sound at first.

there is actually very little known about this plane mainly due to the 'fact' that it 'doesn't exist', but there are many artists impressions and much speculation. to see all thing auroran, click here [link removed as it's a repeat of something on the main site, and contains too many images]... this isn't just about the plane.

stealth
this is a large part of why i'm doing engineering... the basic idea is to make things harder to 'spot': whether by sound, sight, infrared, radar or any other type of sensor. this subject gets quite involved so i've devoted a page to it... click here to view it.

nasa
the number one space agency in the world. they put the first man on the moon (pointless or what), they have the biggest rocket (saturn v), they run hundreds of flights per year, they've sent probes out of the solar system, 'rovered' on mars, are building a spacestation (alpha) with the russians, they do masses of research into anything space related and were the main force behind hubble and they are also a going concern due to the hugh amounts they get for putting up sattelites for people. to find out more you can go to their very extensive site (if anything it has too much!).... it contains much about nasa and piles of images, videos and sounds from their archives.

matra marconi space
matra marconi is the third largest aerospace company in the world and is based in the uk and france. it is a large force behind the european space agency, being a major designer on the ariane programs. it specialises mainly in the electronics and avionics side... this leads to the lucrative satellite market: they designed and make the eurostar satellite which are used by  the intelsat, hot bird 2, 3, 4 and 5, astra 2b, nilesat, worldstar systems. it is also heavily involved in the telecom 2, hispasat, orion and st-1 multi-role satellites, in the inmarsat and east mobile phone satellites and in the skynet 4 and nato 4 satellites. it also provides all the ground based control facilities and equipment.

it is involved in both military and civil earth observation and in the giotto, hipparcos and soho science platforms. it is europes sole supplier of military satellites, and has contracts with uk, france, italy, spain and nato. it is the designer of the equipment bay for both ariane 4 and 5 and along with dasa it has a contract to make the data control modules for the international space station.

matra is also one of the very few company taking seriously the idea of fully reuseable spacecraft and is certainly the first.... they are the only serious competion to the 3 us giants lockheed, boeing and northrop, and they are localish to me: i found out about them when i had a tour of their bristol site as part of a 'space school' held by brunel. if you want more info about them visit their site.

lockheed
lockheed, for decades a leading force in aerospace design, has recently merged to become part of the world largest aerospace company with the likes of beoing and mcdonald douglas. throughout their long history they have produced a stunning range of high quality aircraft... the sr-71 blackbird, far and away the most beautiful aircraft ever and a stunningly successful piece of engineering... the f-117a nighthawk/senior trend, the first aircraft to be solely designed around the principles of stealth and another throughly pretty and successful aircraft... the f-22 raptor, the newest in a long line of aircraft which incorporates the latest in stealth technology and lockheed's trademark good looks, as well as incredible preformance.

lockheed is imo the leading designer in the aerospace field and i hope they're still going by the time i want work!!

jets in the 70s and 80s

early jets

mir & alpha - spacestations

hubble - astronomy

sattelites - millitary and commercial

unmanned/manned

zaaron
zaaron is my second name, and i've been under the impression for some time now that it was taken from the name of star or other... it seems now that my mind concocted this idea from thin air, so zaaron apperently has no legimate place in this section. i am therefore now starting the campaign for the elevation to stardom of zaaron. if anyone hears of a star requiring a name please inform the management and suggest zaaron as the right choice to whom it concerns...
 

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