I know I'm being irrational. After all, I find it normal that NASA launches a rocket or the Space Shuttle after clearing a security perimeter from commercial flights. The Chinese obviously do the same, but somehow their perimeter seems smaller than NASA's:

Or maybe it's just my imagination, and my instinctive fear of China taking over the world to make us all wear Mao shirts. [Break]

Confirmed: It was a failed Russian missile launch. Click here for the full explanation.

Could it all be a hoax? Maybe it's a massive joke, but all kinds of Norwegian news sites are reporting on it. According to NKR—Norway's national TV channel—it could be related to a rocket fired from a Russian submarine in the White Sea. The Russians are denying any part on it at this at the moment. Nick Banbury, a witness located at Harstad, described how it all happened:

We are used to seeing lots of auroras here in Arctic Norway, but on my way to work this morning I saw something completely unexpected. Between 7:50 and 8:00 a.m. local time, there was a strange light in the sky. It consisted initially of a green beam of light similar in colour to the aurora with a mysterious rotating spiral at one end. This spiral then got bigger and bigger until it turned into a huge halo in the sky with the green beam extending down to the earth.

As hard as it is to believe, you can't dispute the fact that the strange spiral was witnessed and recorded by thousands of people from hundreds of miles away, which means that the phenomenon occurred at a very high altitude. Even Phil Plait from Bad Astronomy agrees that this is real, and says that it was probably a rocket out of control. Norwegian astronomers and news outlets have actually confirmed that this was a failed Russian missile launch.

So barring any epic group joke, expect your new alien overlords to arrive at any time now. We can only hope they are all peace-loving voluptuous blondes with blue eyes. [Altaposten, VG, NRK via SpaceWeather via Universe Today—thanks Gonzalo Oxenford]

If you know Norwegian and have any information, contact me on AIM or by mail.

OK, so it looks like a flying condom.

NASA says that the six minute flight was a success. In fact, they said the vehicle flew better than expected. Good work, my dearest space boffins. Watch the video here.

Images by the AP

Oh wait, you just died—as planned. Oh my, the fact that you were alive just seconds ago.

After a slight delay this morning, countdown resumed on T minus 4 minutes at 9:46am Eastern Time. There's a cloud formation flying over the pad right now, so they have frozen the countdown. Weather station will return an estimate in five minutes.

Update 1: Upper atmosphere weather is all good through the launch window, till noon today, so as soon as the clouds clear up, the countdown will resume.

Update 2: Countdown has resumed! T minus 4 minutes and counting.

Update 3: Countdown on hold at T minus 2 minutes 39 seconds, again for the weather. Damn Florida weather.

Update 4: Countdown back to T minus 4 minutes. Standing by.

Update 5: Flight director says they are giving it one last go. Launch window ends at 12pm.

Update 6: Launch has been scrubbed because of the bad weather. Ares I-X is being secured. Stay tuned for more news about the next launch attempt.

Go watch live it at [NASA TV]

The assembled Ares I-X was mounted aboard NASA's sandcrawler at Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 1:39 a.m. It arrived at Launch Pad 39B around 7:45 a.m.

The Ares I-X will test the viability of the 100-meter high Ares I, NASA's tallest, most powerful rocket since the Saturn V. The Saturn V was ten meters higher than Ares, and it remains the biggest, most powerful rocket ever launched.

If everything goes well, Ares I-X will blast into the sky on October 27, reaching 40 kilometers up in the air, and sending vital information about its performance. The first stage, a solid rocket engine, will return to Earth. The dummy upper stage will fall down to the ocean.

Arex I-X is the first major milestone for the Constellation program, which in theory would take over the shuttle, and also bring humans back to the Moon and Mars. If el Sr. Presidente gives the go ahead, that is. At this point, the Constellation program is being evaluated by the Augustine Commission. Their final report, that will seal its fate, will be handed in to the White House this week.

In other words, enjoy this one while it lasts. [NASA]

The first stage of the Ares I rocket—a five-segment solid engine developed mainly by ATK Space Systems and NASA—was successfully tested today in Utah's desert, scorching the land during two minutes while 650 sensors evaluated its performance. According to Alex Priskos—first stage manager for the Ares Projects at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama—the test was a success:

With this test, we have taken lessons learned from many years of experience in solid rocket motor development and have built on that foundation. Our team collected data from 650 sensors today to evaluate the motor's performance. This test and those that follow are essential to understanding as many aspects of our motor as possible, including strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately delivering the safest and most reliable motor possible.

There is another test planned for summer 2010. Hopefully, as we don't know yet what will really happen to the Ares program. [NASA]

It's quite interesting, with well-thought-out logic that points to NK obtaining parts and knowledge from Russia. In short, they probably don't have quite as good a capability for delivering the payload as previously thought. [The Bulletin]

As Virgin Galactic gets ever closer to the start of commercial operations, we are reaching and passing many important and historic milestones. The Virgin MotherShip (VMS) Eve, the first of our amazing, all carbon
composite, high altitude WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicles, is flying superbly. SpaceShipTwo, which will air launch from Eve, is largely constructed and awaiting the start of its own test flight programme later this year.

Rough translation from Brit:

OMFG THAT KICKED ASS! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET INTO THAT THING!

Yes, Sir Richard, I totally share the feeling. Even more because this time there have been no problems at all.

One of the cool things about the rocket is that is controllable and can be shut down safely at any time, allowing SpaceShipTwo to glide down to Earth at any time in case there's any problem. This is obviously one of the biggest concerns for the company: Safety.

The other big thing—other than putting amateur astronauts up there—is being green. They are trying to make the engine as clean as these things could be. The engine will burn for a very short period of time because it will be first lifted by White Knight II, which uses cleaner fuel. In fact, the carbon footprint for "each of its passengers and crew will be about a quarter of that for a return trip from London to New York."

NASA has just made this footage available, taken using digital cameras mounted in the spaceship's rockets. What a ride indeed.

The plane will be designed to carry 12 tons of payload into orbit and return safely, without having wasted $100 million worth of throwaway rocket. The company behind this hybrid shuttle is Reaction Engines, which just got a million euros in funding to prove that its "air breathing" Sabre engine can work.

According to the BBC, the key to this engine is a super-cooler, which takes gasses entering the intake at 1000 degrees celsius, and drops them to -130 degrees C in 1/100th of a second, thanks to "arrays of extremely fine piping." God knows those rocketeers love their piping.

Though not much more is known about Skylon at this point, it's safe to say we'll hear more about it and other non-wasteful spaceships in the future. I just hope they keep that Hotblack-Desiato-meets-Naboo-cruiser look. [BBC News]

Which is, of course, interestingly ironic since the Abrams M1 typically doesn't use reactive armor, neither does its UK equivalent main battle tank the Challenger 2—they rely on advanced solid armor instead. And you'd need either a very lucky strike, or many impacts to seriously damage one of these beasts with any type of RPG. Russian tanks, like the T72 and T80, on the other hand, do rely on reactive armor and sometimes employ active defense systems like Arena. Would be interesting to see the RPG-30 pitted against the Future Combat System's Quick Kill defenses, don't you think?

Still, makers Bazalt got some military chaps to demonstrate the system recently on TV:[Wired]

The difference between these fireballs and other high-temperature incendiary weapons like the CrashPAD or the Shredder—two modified bombs designed to eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction—is that these don't do a good job on keeping hazardous substances under control. Once the bomb—made of explosive and incendiary material—hits the target, there's always an ejection of material to the atmosphere, which could be dangerous for the population or the troops.

The kinetic rocket fire balls, however, don't explode. Once they hit their target—delivered by a modified bomb—and ignite, they just bounce randomly finding their way across every part of the structure. In the process, they emit an extremely high temperature flame, vaporizing everything around them at 1,000 ºF. This behavior, bouncing everywhere and reaching every place, makes them extremely effective at destroying any kind of substance or contents in the structure.

In fact, these Weapons of Bouncy Destruction can be used against both chemical or bacteriological facilities, as well as nuclear facilities, without breaking the buildings and spreading radioactivity. For now, they are "secret" and have never been used in real action—or so they said—but they have been tested successfully in underground bunkers and may be already under limited production.

And yes, you can cue in the Jerry Lee Lewis. Now. [Danger Room]

The Rocket Racing League® is an aerospace sports and entertainment organization that combines the competition of racing with the excitement of rocketry. The RRL was established by X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion team partner Granger Whitelaw to advance the technology and increase public awareness of space travel. The NASCAR-style racing league features rocket-powered aircraft that will be flown by top pilots through a 'three-dimensional track way' at venues throughout the world. With millions of fans who enjoy racing and air shows, and an even wider audience enthralled with humanity's next step into space, rocket racing is destined to become the future of racing!

There are six teams already. If I were a test pilot, I would apply today. Head to Flight Global for an exclusive interview with Granger Whitelaw, CEO of Rocket Racing, explaining what the whole thing is about. If you are going to be at the show, go on Friday or Saturday, when they will fly it again. [Rocket Racing League and Flight Global]

[The Ledger—thanks tinshaker]