On May 1, 2013, the Boeing X-51A WaveRider Scramjet set a record. The unmanned hypersonic vehicle flew 230 miles in six minutes—the most successful and longest test flight of the engine. For three and half of those minutes, the scramjet engine produced a steady acceleration to reach a hypersonic speed of Mach 5.1+. VACCO proudly supplied Boeing’s X-51A WaveRider Scramjet with specially prepared tank isolation fuel valves, filters, and manual service valves. Watch footage of the amazing flight:
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) made its way into space on Monday, February 11, 2013, carried by NASA’s Atlas V rocket. The rocket, which launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, has VACCO metal mesh filters onboard.
LDCM is the new earth observation satellite that continues a 40-year legacy. With improved sensing and data capture capabilities from its predecessor, LDCM will provide critical and freely accessible information to people who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping and global change research. Read more about LDCM.
The Delta II launch vehicle lifted spacecraft GRAIL-A (Ebb) and GRAIL-B (Flow) toward the moon on Sept 10, 2011. Ebb and Flow used high-quality gravity field mapping of the moon to achieve their mission goal, which was to determine the moon's interior structure.
VACCO Industries proudly supported the GRAIL mission with filters on the Delta II launch vehicle, as well as HP latch valves, propellant and pressurant filters, and miniature fill & drain valves on the twin GRAIL spacecrafts.
The end of Ebb and Flow’s successful mission was marked by honoring Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. She died of cancer last summer. Read more here.
VACCO’s vent relief valves (VRVs)—one of many products VACCO is designing and building for the Space Launch System (SLS)—are featured in the November 2012 issue of NASA’s SLS Highlights newsletter. VACCO is a proud industry partner helping create the largest rocket built in the history of space exploration. Click here to read the full newsletter and article.
The MESSENGER spacecraft, for which VACCO provided latch valves, filters, and fill & drain valves, discovered evidence to confirm that ice exists on Mercury. This discovery may be surprising considering that it is the closest planet to the sun. Read more about the findings.
Tony Antonelli, a NASA astronaut, stopped by VACCO Industries for a tour and special visit with employees Tuesday, October 23, 2012. Read all about it.
On Saturday, October 27, 2012, the Navy christened the future USS Minnesota in Newport News, VA. The Minnesota, which is expected to be commissioned during the summer of 2013, is the tenth boat of the fast-attack Virginia Class submarines and has VACCO valves and manifolds onboard. Click here to read more about the Navy’s newest submarine.
Launched on August 5, 2011, Juno is scheduled to perform deep space maneuvers late August/early September 2012 as it prepares to arrive at Jupiter in July 2016.
VACCO provided components to Lockheed Martin, who built the spacecraft for JPL and NASA. The following VACCO components are critical to the operation of the propulsion system:
The propulsion system is used to provide course corrections needed to guide the spacecraft to Jupiter. Currently, Juno is traveling at a velocity relative to Earth at 100,500 miles per hour! By the end of its journey, the spacecraft will travel over 1.74 billion miles total distance.
South El Monte, CA, August 16, 2012 - NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover landed on the Red Planet Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 10:31 pm PDT, accomplishing one of the most difficult, high-risk missions ever attempted by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. With filters, fill & drain valves, latch valves and regulators aboard, VACCO Industries is proud to be a part of this historic feat. Click here for full press release.
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover landed on the Red Planet Sunday, August 5 at 10:31 pm PDT. With filters, fill & drain valves, latch valves and regulators aboard, VACCO is proud to be a part of this feat. Click here for more information about Curiosity's 2-year mission and to see incredible images of its new Martian home.
