Autodesk Week Off & ARES-1 Rocket Engine Test Here in Utah

Autodesk will be closed for a quarterly week of rest from August 31st to September 8th. While many of us deskers will be working from time to time out of pure enjoyment and habit, please understand our participation may be light until we return.

While on my week of vacation I hope to attend the NASA / ATK (Alliant Techsystems) next generation ARES-1, 5 stage solid fuel space rocket motor test next Tuesday here in Northern Utah. With an expected 3.6 million pounds of thrust it is the "equivalent of 26,000 NASCAR race cars revving their engines for two minutes”. The big first stage rocket motor will be in a fixed horizontal position and fired in this first test which is said to generate almost 2/3 the temperature of the sun. I expect this to be one intense experience to the senses. It will be a testament to the progress of the evolution of  technology, and engineering. This rocket will be a vital component of the next generation manned space flight vehicle Orion Crew Vehicle after the Space Shuttle retirement. Of course I will be photographing the test and tweeting (@mrcadman) provided I have a phone connection from Promontory Point Utah.

If you are planning to attend the rocket motor test, contact me as we could share a or meetup out there. I know both NASA and ATK use Autodesk products in several divisions. Any nice ATK / NASA employees have a spare front row view seat so I can hang out with rocket scientists and engineers, or provide a suggestion for the location with the best public view?

I am fully 110% behind more space exploration and future manned space flights. Science and Engineering is definitely cool! 

“To Infinity and Beyond!”

Cheers,
Shaan