Orion Drones

News

Announcing a Crazy Eddie Sale

I am having a Crazy Eddie Sale! Get an aerial photo of your business for $20. Gas reimbursement may apply. I am going to add the Crazy Eddie Sale block to the Services page later today.

Camera Test

I had lots of good weather over the last weekend or so. I tested a new GoPro mount. It works fine on smooth surfaces for hyperlapse videos. I clamped it on the grill and drove with traffic on a turnpike with basically near-zero traffic for nearly ten miles. I did that after using it in Brownsville a few times.

Ice Plant

I flew at an abandoned ice plant again. I wanted to check on the rooftops. The large smokestack is losing the outer cladding of bricks. A chunk appears to have penetrated the roofs.

I studied the debris and openings and found places of egress. I recorded images of the chimney debris, got a good close-up of the upper brickwork of the opening.

Yough It Up

I also flew at a park in Connellsville, PA. There is an abandoned truss bridge that I wanted to get a photo of, and to look down the abandoned rail line, something that is impossible to do from the public park where I stood, I needed a drone. I flew under a road and inspected the bridge, too.

Starship

Starship had to deal with the pyloric valve of Fortuna, scrubbed at T-40 seconds. Its mitigation of wildlife issues was incredible.

Check the link again. The 2022 report details what would happen in the event of a crash. It looks at debris fields, impacts over land and water, and it mentions water used to carry the heat away, fuel type, building materials, and so on. NASA has no history of killing populations of endangered species with a crashed rocket ship. The animals are not that plentiful, chances are low you would hit an animal directly. For example, I have only heard of seven people in recorded history to have been killed by a meteor.

The FAA wanted to know how Starship was going to deal with launch forces and crash effects. How wide the debris, and of what quality. In whose aquatic neighborhood does debris impel discomfort, and in the air, do the sonic booms (12 psf for Super Heavy, 2 psf for Starship) cause a problem. But it goes, much, much deeper than that. It is important to know that manta rays basically can’t even right now, and there’s whales about, but the 21-page approval document includes a 67-page description of the scientifically sound research that impelled the FAA approval. On page 58 of the document:

Independent analysis performed by M. Eneva and J. Stevens in 2001 using Russian hydroacoustic testing data that was also made available for the purposes of evaluating monitoring of nuclear test ban treaties.20 The Russian data contained 29 explosive tests conducted in a shallow reservoir using 100 kg TNT cast spherical charges with 25 cm radius, detonated at various depths in a shallow 87 m long, 3 m deep reservoir.

FAA – WRITTEN RE‐EVALUATION OF THE 2022 FINAL PROGRAMMATIC
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE SPACEX STARSHIP/SUPER
HEAVY LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAM AT THE BOCA CHICA LAUNCH SITE IN
CAMERON COUNTY, TEXAS, page 58

It is interesting to note that the research that underpin the design of this launch event was used to deal with nuclear weapons testing, and that it came as part of a nuclear test ban treaty that used hydroacoustic testing to monitor the presence of nuclear weapons tests. It’s the smallest possible olive branch that I could think of to be extended between scientists on the either ends of the dreary Cold War, but I know that most scientists just want to follow research and discovery. Life is short.

A Valuable Microgravity Test Environment

There is much to do. That’s probably why the ISS got a new lease through 2030. The urge to explore and to test new technologies is a strong motivator.

As a teacher, I realize the challenge is to get kids to be more curious about the world. They need to be involved in discoveries, and that is why I try to learn from children. What makes them ponder about the universe? What makes them want to learn? What in their lives drive them away from discovery and collaboration? Why do I care? I am just a K-12 substitute teacher.

Nearly 110 countries and areas have participated in activities aboard the station, including more than 1,500,000 students per year in STEM activities.

Biden-Harris Administration Extends Space Station Operations Through 2030 – Space Station (nasa.gov)

Live High-Definition Views from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) – YouTube

Remember that scientists from around the globe use the ISS to conduct research to help us tackle problems facing us on a plantwide scale, like the problems of increasing rates and severity of flash floods using cube sats that can monitor large areas of the planet cheaply. Also cheap: hiring a drone pilot to provide aerial footage of waterways and bodies of water under the clouds to improve data models that affect construction and infrastructure projects, like in Pennsylvania where its’ usually cloudier than almost anywhere else ith the US. Hi, NASA fren.

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Projects

• Ground-pounding for a mechatronics job.
• Working with a local historical society to raise the profile of its sites.
• Catching up on research.
• Enrolled in a coding bootcamp.
• Three flight locations in one weekend – I have kids, it’s not easy. I flew in Connellsville, Bridgeville, and Brownsville. I showed a couple of curious volunteer fireman what my drone can do. I let it chase me around, I flew it straight at a giant brick wall to its proximity threshold, told them about failsafe features, landings, range and weather effects. I told them how I keep and move data, and costs. I offered to train the fire department how to fly the drones.

Recent Gallery

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Marketing, education, defense, infrastructure, community, agriculture, and leisure

I noticed “medical” could be formed from an acronym of the list of industries that drones access. They are cheap, safe, and easy to use. Consider hiring a drone pilot to help your business reach new heights.

Recent Gallery

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That empty lot facing the river is a perfect location for drone flight out over the river.

Old Gold

Ask about large prints. Ask me to paint an image in oils. Recreate an image in CAD, print it. The name of the game is “paid production”.

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