Posted on 09/30/2003 9:43:27 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In the not-so-distant past, Mojave Airport often made the national news for the long lines of airliners parked in desert storage as the airline industry slumped. Now, however, it is making news for being home to cutting-edge innovations in aerospace.
Two of the airports' tenants are featured in the Oct. 6 issue of Newsweek magazine, in an article highlighting the emerging space tourism industry.
"We're always grateful when the national media takes notice of our progress and the progress of others in our industry," said Jeff Greason, CEO of XCOR Aerospace, one of the Mojave companies featured.
XCOR, already successful in demonstrating its rocket engine technology with the EZ-Rocket airplane, has a marketing agreement with Space Adventures Ltd. to offer suborbital flights in the Xerus, its next-generation rocket vehicle under development.
The vehicle will carry a pilot and passenger to an altitude of 62 miles during a one-hour flight. The passenger will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the Earth from space.
Just down the flightline from XCOR, Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites is blazing a trail with the development of its SpaceShipOne, designed to carry a pilot and two passengers on a suborbital flight.
The first manned spacecraft built without government support, SpaceShipOne is designed to launch from the White Knight, then use a rocket engine to boost it to 100 kilometers - 62.5 miles - above the Earth. The spacecraft will then descend to a runway landing, much like a glider.
The White Knight completed its first flight in August 2002. The first joined flight was in June, and SpaceShipOne made its maiden glide flight on Aug. 7.
SpaceShipOne is one of two dozen entries in the X-Prize race, an international competition intended to jump-start the space tourism industry.
The competition will award $10 million to the first privately funded team to build and successfully launch a spacecraft capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above the Earth and return safely, then turn around and duplicate the feat with the same ship within two weeks.
The national spotlight is a sign that the industry is growing in the public's consciousness.
For quite some time, there has been a psychological barrier to private spaceflight, with a general belief that it could not be accomplished. That perception, however, is starting to change, Greason said.
XCOR is no stranger to the national spotlight. In December, the company, its EZ-Rocket airplane and chief engineer Dan DeLong were featured in Esquire, Popular Science and Scientific American magazines.
The Newsweek article, however, did include one glaring error, stating that "the company is totally broke."
"XCOR has always operated on a shoestring, but no more so now than before," Greason said. If anything, the company is actually somewhat better off financially now than usual, he said.
The company recently was awarded a $750,000 contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a prototype rocket engine propellent pump.
More may be said about Mojave Airport and space travel in the future, as the airport has applied to the Federal Aviation Administration for a license to launch space vehicles. If granted, it would make the site the first inland spaceport in the country.
The airport, already home to seven rocket and space exploration companies, receives regular inquiries about using the facility for launches.
"TANDEM TESTING - White Knight, with the red trim, carries SpaceShipOne, with the blue trim during a test run at Mojave Airport. SpaceShipOne is designed to launch from the White Knight, then use a rocket engine to boost it to 100 kilometers - 62.5 miles - above the Earth. The spacecraft will then descend to a runway landing, much like a glider."Scaled Composites
Cool! When can I go! ..... They're ready!
We must proselytize! The next generation must pick up the baton as we race Ad Astra!
Do they win the X-prize if they merely survive the second launch?
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