| Issue 9 | Volume 147 | Tuesday, April 4, 2017 | theavion.com |
SpaceX Makes History with SES-10 Launch Keenan Thungtrakul Senior Reporter
Trey Henderson/The Avion Newspaper
History was made on the evening of Thursday, March 30 with the successful launch of SES-10, a communications satellite designed to broaden network capabilities in Latin America. SES-10 was built by Airbus Defense and Space and will cater to growing Latin American television broadcasting markets and demand for Ultra HD channels. In addition, the satellite will provide connectivity for a growing number of cruise ships sailing the Caribbean and airliners flying around Latin American airspace. SES-10 is the first payload to be launched off the first reused Falcon 9 first stage. This particular booster was first used in April of 2016 to take the CRS-8 resupply capsule to the ISS. Once the booster landed, it was cleaned and refurbished and brought right back into testing. SpaceX wanted to make sure that the reusable booster will live up to its intended purpose, and that it did. The booster carried SES-10 into orbit and again landed successfully on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship stationed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. During a press conference held in the hours following the launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and SES Chief Technology Officer Martin Halliwell sat down with reporters to discuss the impact that this mission had on the growing space industry. SES said that it had “no hesitation” when it was offered a launch on a refurbished rocket. Martin said that the industry is “shaking its boots” thanks to this achievement. Musk stated that he felt “speechless” after witnessing the launch proceeding flawlessly. What the engineering team at SpaceX has essentially done is take what was originally a disposable, single use vehicle and turn it into a partially reusable one. The goal, Musk said, is to make rockets perform like airliners do. Airplanes aren’t thrown out after every flight so why should rockets. SpaceX aims to make their Falcon 9 boosters capable of quick turnarounds and “high flight rates” with minimal to moderate refurbishment. Propellants only make up about 0.3% of the cost of
launching, with much of the cost going to the actual first stage and the payload fairing. The hope is to ideally reuse the boosters within 24 hours, which, compared with almost ten months for this booster, is an ambitious goal. Elon Musk proposed that the Falcon 9 first stage booster could perform about ten flights if not refurbished between launches and about 100 flights if moderately refurbished between launches. The booster that launched SES-10 will be re-flown up to six times before being donated as a token to commemorate this historic moment. Since satellite companies are used to having their payloads sent up on single-use rockets, they will be hesitant to sign on to launch using a “flight-proven” SpaceX booster. More flights of these boosters to earn customer’s trust are required to prove the booster remains reliable, even if it has undergone multiple launches. One major perk that comes with using a flight-proven booster is a substantial discount. Musk wants to reduce the cost of access to space, and re-usability is one of the key components to realize that dream. Musk also believes that re-usability is the key for his plans for a Mars colony by the end of either his lifetime. He postulated that the ITS first stage would be capable of about 1000 flights each. That would be getting close to conventional aircraft re-usability, but there is a lot of work up ahead. Of course, there is a lot of work to be done to continue the strive for this standard. In addition, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will utilize three Falcon 9 first stage boosters, and all of them will be landed after a launch. Musk plans to begin testing the rocket in late summer using the historic pad 39A, the pad that both the Apollo 11 mission and the space shuttle launched from. Other Falcon rockets will use LC-40, the pad that suffered damage during the static fire test anomaly. SpaceX is going to continue pushing the limits of aerospace and making history several times over as they look forward to flying crew, and the Falcon Heavy later this year.
04 Campus Bystander Intervention Training Program April
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Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager
Jaclyn Wiley Micah Knight Henry Neiberlien Sariah Adviento Zach Fedewa Devin Edwards
Page Editors Front Editor Campus Editor SGA Editor Opinions Editor Feature Editor I&T Editor Sports Editor Copy Editor
Andy Bronshteyn Collin Anderson Jaclyn Wiley Keenan Thungtrakul Zachary Fedewa Sean Beckford Micah Knight Zachary Fedewa Payton Muglia Nicole Drevlow
Dr. Rachel Silverman Title IX Coordinator Eagles Do Soar! The recent Campus Climate Survey confirms what we already knew about ERAU students—you step up when you believe someone is in danger; you intervene if you see someone being victimized; you stop those who would exploit the vulnerable. ERAU students
are astute, responsive and courageous! Your responses to the Campus Climate Survey indicate many of you had taken action to protect a peer or friend in the past when you sensed or witnessed danger. The University commends you and wants to encourage more of that positive action by kicking off a Bystander Intervention Training program in April.
Awareness, Intervention, Response Team AIR Team's Week of Awareness will kick off with a guest speaker on Monday, April 3 followed by a week of activities to include a Take Back The Night vigil, Walk A Mile In Her Shoes (get ready guys to rock some red heels across the West Lawn) and an introduction of the ERAU "It's On Us" campaign where students can share a personal
message about the importance of ending sexual assault and exploitation. We are seeking volunteers and groups of students to become involved in this project. If your team, group, residence hall, sorority or fraternity would like to assist this effort, please contact the program coordinator, Dr. Rachel Silverman, Professor of Communication, at 386-226-6631 or silverr1@erau.edu.
Staff Contributors
Reporters
Photographers
Jaclyn Wiley Andy Bronshteyn Henry Neiberlien Keenan Thungtrakul Trey Henderson Zachary Fedewa Collin Anderson Vendrys Bryan Joshua Asiaten
K’Andrew France-Beckford
Vipul Telang
Correspondents
C/ MSG Edward Forman, Billy Nguyen
Staff Advisor Ginny-Beth Joiner, Avion Advisor
Contact Information Main Phone: (386) 226-6049 Ad Manager: (386) 226-7697 Fax Number: (386) 226-6016 Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager
editor@theavion.com managing@theavion.com news@theavion.com business@theavion.com photo@theavion.com advertising@theavion.com
Website: theavion.com
Cadets Bring New Life to Defaced Cemetery C/ MSG Edward Forman AROTC
The Avion is produced weekly during the fall and spring term, and bi-weekly during summer terms. The Avion is produced by a volunteer student staff. Student editors make all content, business and editorial decisions. The editorial opinions expressed in The Avion are solely the opinion of the undersigned writer(s), and not those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Student Government Association, The Avion, or the student body. Letters appearing in The Avion are those of the writer, identified at the end of the letter. Opinions expressed in the “Student Government” and “Student Life” sections are those of the identified writer. Letters may be submitted to The Avion for publication, provided they are not lewd, obscene or libelous. Letter writers must confine themselves to less than 800 words. Letters may be edited for brevity and formatted to newspaper guidelines. All letters must be signed. Names may be withheld at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. The Avion is an open forum for student expression. The Avion is a division of the Student Government Association. The Avion is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The costs of this publication are paid by the Student Government Association and through advertising fees. The Avion distributes one free copy per person. Additional copies are $0.75. Theft of newspapers is a crime, and is subject to prosecution and Embry-Riddle judicial action. This newspaper and its contents are protected by United States copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, in print or electronically, without the expressed written consent of The Avion. Correspondence may be addressed to: The Avion Newspaper, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. Physical office: John Paul Riddle Student Center, Room 110. Phone: (386) 226-6049. Fax: (386) 226-6727.
At the beginning of March, 17 Army ROTC Cadets assisted numerous local veteran organizations in cleaning Sunset Park Cemetery. The cemetery is located on Old King Road right off Big Tree Road. In recent years, care for the cemetery had all but ceased. Trees and shrubs were allowed to grow, and there was garbage strewn throughout the area. This disorder sparked the cleanup to begin. The cadets arrived at 12 p.m. ready to work. At the cemetery, we met with the president of Volusia Vets, a small network of local veterans, and the local chapter of "Team Red, White, and Blue,"
(Team RWB). Over 20 Veterans participated, with service members from World War II to Desert Storm to Afghanistan. It was a humbling experience to pick up trash and cut several trees down with these men and women. This cleanup and others were organized by local businessman and United States Marine Corps veteran John Vaccaro, owner and operator of Big Tree Barber Shop. Mr. Vaccaro had taken it upon himself to gather local veterans to clean the cemetery several months prior. During this initial cleanup, Mr. Vaccaro discovered a grave marker propped against the wall of the cemeteries utility building. It belonged to Pvt.
Jack Dixon, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Amazingly enough, a 76-year-old woman from Daytona Beach was identified as very likely to be Jack Dixon's daughter. She had no information on her father or where he may have been buried, so because of this small sacrifice in cleaning this cemetery, a woman has potentially found her father and his final resting place. For this work, CPL John Vaccaro (USMC Ret.) was awarded a Military Order of the Purple Heart, which he proudly displays in his place of business. He continues to organize the time and dates for the cleanup efforts and coordinates with the veteran organizations to ensure proper
upkeep of this cemetery. After a few hours, the cleanup was mostly finished. Several new grave markers were discovered, and the veteran organizations began locating the proper grave to whom they belonged. Mr. Vaccaro brought a new American flag to raise over the cemetery, and after a brief ceremony, the flag was raised. A small service was held commending the work and the cleanup crew and thanking each veteran in attendance for their service. As Cadets, it was a great experience to work side by side with these true heroes of our nation. I hope everyone would strive to preserve and protect the honor of those who have served, as they are real heroes.
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Scan here to view the Executive Debate!
SGA Elections this Week - Vote!
Jaclyn Wiley Editor-in-Chief
The time has come for the students of Embry-Riddle to choose new representatives for the Student Government Association (SGA); the elected individuals will begin their terms in Fall 2017. SGA elections begin on April 3 and end on April 7. All students are allowed, and encouraged, to vote for their representatives for the coming year. Voting will be conducted via voting booths and, for students that are not able to go to the voting booths, digitally through EmbryRiddle Connections. There are many positions up for election, including the President, Vice President, and Treasurer. These three positions run for office as a ticket, and this year, there are two potential tickets for the SGA executive candidates. The President of the SGA is the highest ranking member of the SGA and bears ultimate responsibility for activities conducted by the SGA and its organizations within. The President also acts as the official voice of the students at Board of Trustees meetings and reviews all
resolutions and SGA formal proposals made and passed by the SRB or SFB within seven school days of the resolution. The current SGA President is Dustin Gibson, who is seeking reelection. Chad Stearns is the current SGA Director of Operations and is running for President against Gibson. The Executive Board of the SGA is made up of the President, Vice President, and Treasurer of the SGA, the Chief Justice of the Court, and the Heads of the SGA Divisions. The divisions are Touch-NGo, WIKD, and the Avion Newspaper. These organizations, and the Court, hold their own separate, internal elections. The Vice President of the SGA is also part of the Executive Board, and serves as the head of the Student Representative Board (SRB). The Student Representative Board consists of representatives of all of the colleges and some other groups, including student veterans. Additionally, the Vice President acts as a liaison between the SRB and the rest of the SGA in general. The current Vice President of the SGA is Aaronn Spiewak, who is not
seeking reelection. The Treasurer of the SGA heads the Student Finance Board (SFB) and holds authority over SGA allocations to registered student organizations, the divisions of the SGA, and the SGA Executive Board. The current Treasurer is Katelyn Wentworth, who is seeking reelection. There are also elections for the Student Finance Board (SRB) and the Student Finance Board (SFB). There are 23 elected members of
the SRB, and six elected members on the SFB. In the SRB, there are representatives from each of the Colleges, as well as other interest groups around campus. These representatives are chaired by the Vice President and meet to listen to the concerns of the students and create projects and committees to help alleviate those concerns. There are over 25 people running for positions on the SRB, with many coming from the College of Engineering.
The SFB is chaired by the Treasurer, and works to ensure that the money in the SGA fee from the students is put to good use. The elections last from April 3 to April 7. They are open to all ERAU students, who are encouraged to vote. These elections are immensely important, since they are a way for the students to indicate what they want in the ERAU community, and to have their voices heard. Please go out and vote in the elections this week.
Who’s Running
Who’s Running
Ticket 1 Chad Stearns President Gabrielle Bonowski Vice President Rachel Weeks Treasurer Ticket 2 Dustin Gibson President David Lim Vice President Katelyn Wentworth Treasurer
Get to Know your SGA Billy Nguyen Webmaster Junior, Aerospace Engineering Hello, everyone! My name is Billy Nguyen, and I’m currently a junior studying Aerospace Engineering. I’m originally from Eatontown, NJ. A lot of you may know me for my various roles on campus ranging from a correspondent for The Avion Newspaper and tutor at the Digital Studio to being the Webmaster for the Student Government Association. As the Webmaster for the Student Government Association, my role is to manage and update the SGA website as often as possible. I enjoy the job a lot because it’s super flexible and I get to work with a lot of awesome people. It also helped me learn more about website design and HTML coding. I look forward to continuing to serve the student body under my current position.
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DJI Mavic Pro: First Impressions to Ownership Billy Nguyen Correspondent A few months ago, I wrote a piece about the DJI Mavic Pro and how drone enthusiasts, like myself, saw the Mavic Pro as a revolutionary piece of hardware and a huge milestone for consumer drones. Now, as the proud owner of one, I am happy to say that the Mavic Pro does indeed live up its hype. At $999.00, the Mavic Pro is anything but cheap. The fiscally conservative will be quick to point out that the Phantom 3 4K is about 30% cheaper, and will shoot 4K at 30 fps, just like the Mavic Pro. However, unlike the Mavic Pro, the Phantom 3 is not as portable which is a huge problem for me. I travel a lot throughout the year and bring almost all of my photography gear with me. Since the Phantom 3 has a large footprint, I would have to travel with an extra bag specifically for the Phantom or travel with less gear in general. Both of these are compromises I cannot come to terms with. So what do you get for spending a few hundred dollarsmore for a drone? The Mavic Pro’s portability is one of its best-selling points. Mavic Pro
can fit inside of my camera bag and I can take it everywhere with me in addition to my camera gear. I was also able to pass through two TSA checkpoints without any issues. Plus, it is pretty fun expanding and collapsing the arms to impress your friends and family. The Mavic Pro also flies intelligently thanks to a suite of forward and bottom facing cameras. Not only can the Mavic Pro avoid obstacles in front of it and fly indoors, but it can also track your face allowing for hands-free autonomous flight. To demonstrate the drone was to my parents, I had my father stand in one corner of my living room, while my mother and I were in the opposite corner. I flew the Mavic Pro towards my father, and it stopped automatically once it got within one to two feet of him. An impressive display. Flying the Mavic Pro is a treat. The Mavic Pro is my first drone from DJI, so I can’t really compare it to the other models. What I can say though is that the Mavic Pro is extremely responsive and sta-
ble in flight. It is also very robust and can handle itself in non-ideal weather conditions. It managed to stay in a stable hover with winds gusting at around 20 mph, only drifting a few inches here and there to compensate for the strong winds. Also, after a bit of research and testing, the Mavic Pro can fly in temperatures below freezing. I have made about eight flights in temperatures below 32°F and had little to no problems. While I do not recommend flying in temperatures that cold, take care not to get condensation inside of the Mavic Pro when bringing it from a cold environment to a hot environment. Image quality is a bit of a mixed bag. I guess a part of it is because I have been spoiled by my Canon 5D Mark III and its 22.3MP sensor. Images are relatively sharp, and I am glad that the
Mavic Pro shoots in RAW DNG. This means that Lightroom users, like myself, have the ability to make Instagram-like filters. Image size is a standard 4,000 by 3,000 pixels, and the RAW files are about 25 MB per photo. The Mavic Pro has a fixed aperture of f/2.2, so images will be soft in the corners. Also, in a majority of my images, there tends to be a bit of vignetting which is easy to correct in Lightroom. Since I have been flying in the cold, I generally do not have a lot of time to compose my shots or tweak exposure settings when taking pictures. Some of my images were also blurry due to the shutter speed not compensating for movement. Since I could not fly the Mavic Pro for more than four minutes at a time due to the cold, I couldnt really test the video quality. If you want an idea of what kind of
footage to expect, the Mavic Pro uses a Sony IMX377 which apparently is the same image sensor inside of the GoPro Hero 4. Probably one of the lesser known things about the Mavic Pro is the charging times for both the battery and controller. Average charging times for both devices are about an hour and ten minutes which blows my mind since it takes about three hours to charge my Samsung Galaxy Note 5. A neat feature of the Mavic Pro’s battery is it will automatically discharge itself to 50% when it senses that it has not been used in a while. If I had to state any cons with the Mavic Pro, it would have to be some of the weird software and hardware functions that DJI implemented. For example, to use the Mavic Pro simulator, you need to physically have the Mavic Pro powered on so the controller can connect to it. This confuses me because I do not see a reason to have the Mavic Pro on. There is also the inherent risk that the drone may accidentally start up when you are adjusting the controller. The DJI GO apps, Photo Courtesy: DJI are pretty good and
intuitive, but one of my biggest problems is that I have about one or two flights that I have flown with my iPhone 5 connected to the controller that will not sync over to my Note 5. In the future this might be problematic when I have to switch devices depending on availability. All in all, I am very happy with the Mavic Pro. For all the features it packs in such a small form-factor, it gets the job done, but there is more to that. DJI was able to provide an ultra-portable drone without compromising performance. However, it is safe to assume that DJI probably cut a few corners here and there, but I cannot seem to find any real problems. Sure, maybe I will find problems down the road the more I use it, for now, I am satisfied. If you are in the market for a drone, but just want to get your feet wet without diving in, consider getting a Phantom 3 Advanced. It is cheaper than the Mavic Pro, but has Lightbridge for live, 720p video streaming, and can hold its own against other mid-range consumer drones. However, if you want something with current hardware that is super portable, the Mavic Pro will scratch that itch.
Podcasts to Fill Up Your Free Time: Part 3 Andrew Bronshteyn Webmaster Welcome to the third part of “Podcasts to Fill Up Your Free Time,” which is an article series all about podcasts. I am Andrew Bronshteyn, a podcast fanatic. I am subscribed to a total of 22 podcasts, eight of which no longer update. For articles part one and two, I talked about podcasts made by NPR and started talking about podcasts made by Paul F. Tompkins. Before getting to the podcasts in this issue, I must say: please follow this one rule; “don’t knock it ‘till you try it.” Just try one episode for each podcast, that is all I ask. And now, on to the suggestions. One of the new podcasts I subscribed to since the last article is an NPR affiliate, so I would like to briefly mention it before focusing on the large group of podcasts in this article: the podcast is called “NPR Politics Podcast,” it started in November of 2015, one year before the election. I subscribed to the podcast because I was feeling out of the loop with all the Executive Orders
that President Trump was putting out so soon after his inauguration. In this podcast, multiple political correspondents for the NPR News talk about recent news in American politics (almost exclusively Trump news) and analyze it in a way that is both understandable and interesting. The way that they have described the stay placed on Trump’s travel ban EO made it very easy to understand all the different viewpoints on the issue, including their criticism for Trump’s backlash toward the judges on Twitter. I am listening to the new episodes as they come out, as well as listening to the backlog of episodes where they cover all the different political candidates during the campaign season. There are close to two hundred episodes, but they are all in nice, 10-20 minute, bite-sized chunks with weekly episodes that are about one hour long. I recommend listening to the newest episode, as well as the first episode in which they describe what the podcast is all about.
The next two podcasts are the first in the group of podcasts featuring/made by comedian Paul F. Tompkins. PFT - his abbreviation serving as a nickname - is the one comedian who has introduced me to so many podcasts. The podcasts that he has been that I have already mentioned are “Wits,” “The Thrilling Adventure Hour,” and “Spontaneanation.” Both of the next two podcasts made by him that I will introduce are no longer updating, unfortunately. However, each of these podcasts is well made and has a substantial number of episodes, making them re-listenable once you have finished them once. The first podcast is “The Pod F. Tompkast.” This show only had 43 episodes, but each one is funny in its own right. The episodes take place during “nighttime on the internet.” The podcast is a sort of variety sketch-comedy show where PFT shares his favorite moments from his live show. There is also an over-arching sketch where the plot is followed in each episode, which is the main feature in
each of the episodes. This sketch follows the plan made by rapper IceT, actor John C. Reilly, and playwright and musician Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to make a musical together. Every character is played by Mr. Tompkins and is mostly improvised. Personally, I enjoyed these sketches a lot. There was a bit of absurdist comedy that clicked with my type of humor. The sketches from PFT’s live show were hand-picked to be the best of the bunch for the podcast. They give the podcast the sort of sense of being a variety show, which is good for making the episodes separate from each other. I heartily recommend downloading the episodes for “The Pod F. Tompkast” for any trips that you might have away from the internet or other entertainment. The last podcast for this article is “The Dead Authors Podcast.” This podcast started out as a live show, which became recorded and published online later. The show was started to promote 826LA, a charity service which helps tutor children
in reading and writing English. Recorded in front of an audience, author H.G. Wells (“The Time Machine,” and “War of Two Worlds”) brings another dead author in his time machine for an interview. Of course, H.G. Wells is played by PFT, and special guests play the other author. One of my favorites from the podcast is episode 13 when The Brothers Grimm (played by Matt Gourley and Jeremy Carter) were the guests. As Paul says at the beginning of each episode, this podcast was created as “entertainment for grown-ups,” as the guests tend to be smashed. I have started re-listening to the 60+ episodes in the log, as they are all wonderfully done. I recommend this podcast (like the last one) for long car trips, or as a break from homework. As I mentioned at the beginning, don’t knock it ‘till you try it. Just try an episode or two, and if they aren’t your thing, then that’s your opinion. There are more podcasts made/featuring PFT, and I cannot wait to tell you about them in the next issue.
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Blue & Gold Week
Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper An alumni’s daughter participates in the Blue & Gold Week block party blow up games.
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Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper A brave student takes on the wrath of the feared bearded dragon.
Zachary Fedewa/ The Avion Newspaper An Air Force Cadet is amused by a 68 lb python snake. The snake was passed around to multiple students, and even wrapped itself around a couple students’ legs.
Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Embry-Riddle students got the opportunity to hold a tarantula. Students commented that it felt lighter than they expected.
Collin Anderson/The Avion Newspaper Payton Muglia was excited to meet Diego, the Fennec Fox. Fennec foxes live primarily in the desert and are noted for bring the best breed for domesticated pets.
Vendrys Bryan/ The Avion Newspaper Students participated in the ALS ice bucket challenge.
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Melbourne 2017
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Joshua Asiaten/The Avion Newspaper 1: The Thunderbirds soar into the skies over Melbourne, giving the fans an amazing show. 2: The Geico Skytypers make another solid performance demonstrating precise maneuvers and printing text. 3: Two Thuderbirds perform a reflection pass. 4: An F-35 taxis back to its ramp after performing a memorial flight and low passes.
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Melbourne Airshow
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Reality Check: Circular Runways Henry Neiberlien News Editor In the twenty-first century, aviation continues to push the boundaries of science and technology into the future. As we change the very foundation of what is possible with aerospace some researchers have developing unusual and innovative concepts. Unfortunately, some concepts and designs fail to consider how modern aviation functions. One controversial concept is the idea of having an endless circular runway. This idea has had some research done in the past by the US military, but now researchers in the European Union have brought this concept back into the light as a new way to build commercial airports. They state that this concept will allow for multiple aircraft to use the runway at once to cut down on noise pollution, air traffic, and make the overall airport process greener. While this concept is captivating for the public, anyone in the aerospace field can immediately spot the major flaws with this theory.
First of all, an aircraft must take off and land directly into the wind for maximum efficiency. With a circular runway, the aircraft is constantly banking into a new direction, and a large commercial aircraft that needs a long stretch of runway could find itself turning out of the wind and into a crosswind or possibly even a tailwind. This could literally push the aircraft off the runway and cause disaster for the hundreds of people on board. The circular concept runway is based so that landing aircraft can land while banking into the turn and the researchers argue this will help crosswind landings. However, an aircraft is not banking
during a crosswind landing; it is crabbing into the wind and straightening out just before touchdown. A banked circular runway not only makes this process much more difficult, but any gusts of wind or anomalies in ground effect could spell disaster for the aircraft just before touchdown. A landing will also include some extreme maneuvers and higher than normal touchdown speeds, along with extremely rough landing experiences for passengers. Circular runways would also be almost impossible to land on in less than ideal calm and VFR conditions, not to mention the category Instrument landing systems will be completely inopera-
ble on a circular runway, and an aircraft would have to resort to manual landings, a rarity in today’s modern commercial airliners. Existing air IFR airways and waypoints will also have to rewritten, and entirely new ATC procedures must be developed to handle the chaos of circular traffic patterns. Emergency landing procedures will have to be diverted to other airports, and emergency vehicles and personnel will not be able to do their job effectively on a steeply sloped runway surface. Another main argument for circular runways is to make airports more compact; however, to make circular runways even remotely via-
Photo Courtesy: Endless Runway Project
ble, the diameter of the runway would have to be large enough to make the curve unnoticeable. The runway would be so enormous it would defeat the purpose of it in the first place. Overall, very few advantages proposed by a circular runway concept can be solved through a change in airport operations and aircraft design. Increased takeoff and landing frequency can be increased without building a whole new airport by simply implementing improved operational procedures and aircraft spacing. The FAA’s new NextGen program should be able to apply these changes and help to incorporate more aircraft into the national airspace and existing airport infrastructure. The design of the aircraft themselves would also solve the issues of noise pollution and takeoff distance. The next generation of airliners such as the Bombardier C Series, Embraer E2 series, Airbus A3neo series, and Boeing 787 and Max lineups are all significantly quieter and more fuel efficient, as well as new wing designs and engines allow-
ing for shorter landing and take-off distances. To create the airports of the future, I believe that more research could be put into massive runway surfaces similar to the aerodromes of the 1930s instead of conventional runways. However, this concept could also be outdated as future aircraft may eliminate the runway altogether. As flying car programs like Airbus’s and Uber’s gain more traction, Dubai is even implementing autonomous drone taxis this summer for transportation; reliance on conventional airports will decrease. Tiltrotors and other VTOLS could spread air traffic to smaller “feeder” hubs in the inner cities, delivering passengers to larger mega-airports. Far from the city center, the need for compact airports may vanish. In conclusion, circular runways create more problems than they solve, and the problems they aim to address may be solved without even a single drop of fresh asphalt. Airport design can and will be improved in the decades to come, just not with circular runways.
ARCA Unveils AerospikePowered, First SSTO Rocket
Henry Neiberlien News Editor
Since the cancellation of the Lockheed X-33 VentureStar program in the early 2000’s, a linear aerospike powered single stage to orbit launch vehicle has been nothing more than a dream. One New Mexico-based company, however, plans to make it a reality as early as next year. ARCA Space Corporation, based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has unveiled their newest variant
of their Haas rocket family. The Haas 2CA is targeting low-cost space launches by being powered by a more efficient rocket motor called the Aerospike. An Aerospike rocket engine differs from conventional “bell” shaped nozzles by having the propellant flow down the curve, forming a “spike,” increasing the specific impulse of the vehicle and improving performance at all altitudes. With this increase in performance, carrying a sec-
ond stage with a vacuum specialized engine is no longer necessary. This means they can effectively build a single stage to orbit vehicle by utilizing the Aerospike engine, and that is exactly what ARCA plans to do. The Company is targeting a price of $1 million for the launch of a small satellite into orbit, compared to the current cost of a Falcon 9, $60 million, this price is staggeringly low. Even though the Haas 2CA is a much smaller vehi-
Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia Commons A XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine Prototype Test Firing for the X-33 program in the late 1990’s.
cle than the Falcon 9, this price is still very impressive. The Haas 2CA will also be the first single stage to orbit rocket ever built. Making a vehicle that only needs a single stage to orbit has been an aerospace engineer’s dream for decades.
The main reason the aerospike has not been used already is due to funding and research costs, and most companies want to stick with conventional engines for reliability. It is fantastic to see a company like ARCA take
on developing a technology the government could not and make it a reality. Single stage to orbit launch vehicles will not be science fiction for much longer, as the Haas 2CA will make its first flight from Wallops Island, Virginia in 2018.
Photo Courtesy: ARCA An artist’s rendering of the ARCA Space Corporation Aerospike engine-powered Single Stage to Orbit Rocket.
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Upcoming Games: Tuesday Men’s Tennis vs Eckerd Daytona Beach, Fla. @ 3:30 p.m. Women’s Tennis vs Eckerd Daytona Beach, Fla. @ 3:30 p.m. Men’s Golf at Buccaneer Invitational Miami, Fla.
Wednesday
04 Sports Men’s Track Wraps Up Spikes Classic April
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2017
Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics
The Embry-Riddle men’s track & field team wrapped up the Spikes Classic on Saturday with a successful showing at the ERAU Track Complex. Brodie Lubelski picked up
a pair of event wins to highlight the day’s action. Lubelski broke his own school record in the discus with a toss of 51.89m and finished first in the hammer with a personal-best throw of 47.17m. Zach Farner took third in the hammer with a toss
of 45.16m and was seventh in the discus with a mark of 43.36m. The 4x100m relay team of John-Paul Dean, Lonnie Marts, Chad Swindell, and Marcus Pryor finished fourth with a time of 44.53. Marts finished sixth in the 200m in 22.05 and was
10th in the 400m in 49.74. Nick Peters earned a fifthplace finish in the 400m hurdles, clocking in a personal-record time of 56.58. The Eagles are back in action next Saturday at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville on Saturday, April 8.
Baseball at Daytona Tortugas Daytona Beach, Fla. @ 6:35 p.m.
Thursday Women’s Tennis vs Florida Southern Daytona Beach, Fla. 3:30 p.m.
Friday Softball at Lynn Boca Raton, Fla. @ 3 p.m. Baseball at Eckerd St. Petersburg, Fla. @ 6 p.m.
Saturday Softball at Lynn Boca Raton, Fla. @12 p.m. Baseball at Eckerd St. Petersburg, Fla. @ 1 p.m. Softball at Lynn Boca Raton, Fla. @ 2 p.m. Baseball at Eckerd St. Petersburg, Fla. @ 4 p.m. Men’s Track and Field at UNF Invitational Jacksonville, Fla. Women’s Track and Field @ UNF Invit. Jacksonville, Fla.
Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Lonnie Marts powers forward to overtake his opponent and set the pace for a good event. Lonnie competed in the 200 meter and 400 meter races.
Gray Breaks School Record at Spikes Classic Meet Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle women’s track & field team wrapped up the Spikes Classic on Saturday, with ERAU capturing three event wins on the day.
Kortney Gray won the triple jump and broke the school record in the event with a jump of 12.72m. She also placed second in the 100m with a time of 12.21 and finished sixth in the 200m in 25.73. Kristen Metcalfe picked up a victory in the 400m
with a winning time of 55.54 and also won the 800m in 2:09.51. Martina Tafoya earned a topthree finish with a thirdplace finish in the 400m hurdles in 1:04.32. Paige Bussard finished third in the hammer with a mark of 42.49m and took
fifth in the discus with a toss of 36.50m. Caitlyn Joslin took eighth in the hammer with a personal-best throw of 34.51m. The Eagles are back in action next Saturday at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville on Saturday, April 8.
Sunday Men’s Tennis vs Florida Tech Daytona Beach, Fla. @ 12 p.m.
Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Sarah Edens leads the group showing the strength brought from the Embry Riddle Women’s Track and Field.
Comics and Games Engineer Syllogism
The less common, even worse outcome: “3: [everyone in the financial system] WOW, where did all my money just go?�
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