Posted on 10/04/2005 1:42:19 PM PDT by BenLurkin
rocketed into history in the skies over Mojave in the first privately funded, manned space flight. On Oct. 5, 2005, SpaceShipOne will take its place with other icons in the history of flight, as it is unveiled in the Milestones of Flight Gallery of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
The spacecraft, the creation of designer extraordinaire Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites team, will hang suspended between Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the first aircraft to complete a solo flight across the Atlantic.
"It just seems to belong there," said Dr. Valerie Neal, space history curator for the Smithsonian Institution. "It seemed most natural to belong in the Milestones of Flight and most natural in that position."
Joining these in the soaring, two-story gallery at the main entrance to the museum are the XP-59, the first American jet aircraft; the rocket-powered X-15, which set speed and altitude records in preparation for sending man into space; capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo program; and early rockets and unmanned spacecraft.
The "grandfather" to all of these craft, the 1903 Wright Flyer, will rejoin the setting this fall, after nearly two years in a special exhibit.
Nearby hangs yet another Rutan design, the record-setting Voyager aircraft, in which Rutan's brother Dick and Jeana Yeager flew nonstop around the world without refueling in 1986.
"When people come into the Milestones of Flight Gallery, I think the impression people have is they have stepped right into the center of aviation history," Neal said. "These are the ones that punctuate the last century with memorable events. I think SpaceShipOne will fit into people's sense of that."
Curators at the museum approached Rutan about acquiring SpaceShipOne shortly after its historic first spaceflight.
The spacecraft's fame only grew three months later when it claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize by successfully completing two flights to 100 kilometers above the Earth within two weeks. The international competition, designed to jump-start the space tourism industry, drew interest from around the globe.
"(SpaceShipOne) has achieved something assumed to be the province of government and has done so through entirely private means," said George Larson, editor of Air & Space magazine.
In selecting artifacts for the collection, curators at the National Air and Space Museum look for multiple historic significance: first-time accomplishments, highest, fastest or farthest flights or other historic firsts.
Alternatively, the museum seeks out aircraft that have a particularly distinctive history, such as military aircraft that took part in a particular battle.
"We're looking for those historical superlatives," Neal said.
The museum also seeks out examples of technological innovation and creativity, solving problems of flight or doing it in a new and different way, such as new engine or propeller designs.
"Something that basically pushes the envelope of flight," she said.
SpaceShipOne meets the technology innovation criteria with its composite structure, unique feathering technique for slowly re-entering the atmosphere and its hybrid rocket engine.
The basic physics of Rutan's feathering technique, used to slow SpaceShipOne before it begins re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, was studied previously by NASA, Larson said.
By slowing the vehicle, Rutan was able to avoid the extremely high temperatures of re-entry.
SpaceShipOne's feathering of the wings and tail is basically folding the spaceship in half and causing it to descend like a shuttlecock.
This maneuver is the "application of a proven concept in a unique way," Larson said. "It turned out to be exactly the right application for that."
Another important innovation of SpaceShipOne is the rocket engine that powered it.
Rutan's team designed the hybrid engine themselves, coming up with a "very reliable, stone-simple solution" to the propulsion issue, he said.
For the exclusive Milestones of Flight Gallery, entry requirements are more stringent.
"There we truly are looking at a turning point or marker in the history of flight," Neal said, things with the "potential to turn flight on a pivot point and move it in another direction."
For example, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis displayed innovation in its design and was a historic milestone that changed the course of aviation.
"With Lindbergh's flight, suddenly aviation grew much more popular," moving from the interest of pilots alone to the public at large, she said. "It was really his flight that opened the door to the popularization and commercialization of flight, which made it possible for all of us."
Rutan himself has likened the success of his spacecraft to that popularization, in this case opening spaceflight to the public.
"It seems to be a pivotal accomplishment that could mean a new type of spaceflight, a new type of access to space," Neal said of SpaceShipOne.
SpaceShipOne represents a different approach to manned spaceflight than the previous government programs have attempted.
This "leaner and meaner" approach focused money and effort solely on a very simple, efficient system, with everything focused on getting to space and back safely, Neal said.
Granted, SpaceShipOne was only a first step, reaching sub-orbital space, but it was a big step in the direction of greater space access.
"I think when people come in and see this spacecraft, which actually looks like a private aircraft, they will have the sense this is a personal spacecraft and imagine themselves in it," Neal said.
Other spacecraft in the Milestones of Flight Gallery, such as the capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, don't look like anything in most visitors' experience, and they have a difficult time imagining themselves in the astronauts' place.
SpaceShipOne's resemblance to a more traditional aircraft and small size - the space shuttle's immense size tends to negate its resemblance to an airplane that someone might imagine piloting - may be easier for visitors to accept as something they could experience themselves.
"This is personal size; this is kind of like a sports car. I can see myself going into space in that," Neal said.
Before SpaceShipOne, the most recent addition to the gallery was the Breitling Orbiter 3 gondola, the capsule used in the first around-the-world balloon trek in 1999.
SpaceShipOne's display will be something of a milestone for the museum itself, too. It will be the debut of a new interactive, multi-media system that provides visitors with greater detail and variety than the traditional static label describing the artifacts.
A touch screen will allow visitors to access information, images and video about the spacecraft, the people involved in its creation and operation and its historical significance.
"I think it will bring the artifact alive in a way the static label does not," Neal said.
SpaceShipOne at the SMITHSONIAN.
"Nearby hangs yet another Rutan design, the record-setting Voyager aircraft, in which Rutan's brother Dick and Jeana Yeager flew nonstop around the world without refueling in 1986."
That I've seen. If there is any other designer with two historic craft hanging in that magical room, I'd love to know who.
A belated Bump for another good article by Allison. I was privileged to be at the NASM for the unveiling, and spent a couple of days roaming the museum beforehand. Also got to see Gen Chuck Yeager speak the night before the unveiling. Awesome!
Great, although now I'm a little jealous. ;')
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