Glossary: MECO
MECO is main-engine cutoff, the point at which a space craft's main engines stop firing. For the space shuttle, MECO occurs about 8 minutes after liftoff and indicates that the shuttle has reached orbit.
Seaside Sunrise
"The sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean silhouetting space shuttle Atlantis' external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the image taken on June 23, 2011."
Can one idea be energy's holy grail?
Michel Laberge quit his job to invent a "glorified jackhammer" that he hoped would save the planet. That was 10 years ago.
Now, investors are betting more than $30 million on that jackhammer idea, which may yield a holy grail of energy - a safe, clean and unlimited power source called hot fusion.
Laberge is trying to do something that no one has ever done: create a controlled "net gain" fusion reaction that creates more energy than is required to produce it. It's the same process that powers our sun. If it works, it could solve huge problems like climate change, the energy crunch and reliance on foreign oil.
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People in Orbit
Expedition 36 Commander
Expedition 36 Flight Engineer
Expedition 36 Flight Engineer
Contributors
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Elizabeth Landau
Writer/Producer -
Sophia Dengo
Senior Designer
