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Private space race nears finish line
AP ^ | Monday, March 29, 2004

Posted on 03/31/2004 2:29:05 PM PST by presidio9

Edited on 04/29/2004 2:04:08 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

The reward is high, but so is the risk as some of the 27 teams pursuing a $10 million prize for the first privately funded manned spaceflight near a goal that once seemed outlandish.

Organizers of the X Prize believe that teams could attempt the space trip as early as this summer.


(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: scaledcomposites; space; xprize

1 posted on 03/31/2004 2:29:05 PM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
I have been keeping an eye on this effort for quite a while. It is good to see the pioneering spirit is not dead. My hat is off to every team and I wish all of them the very best.
2 posted on 03/31/2004 2:40:42 PM PST by Army Air Corps (To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
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To: presidio9
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/
3 posted on 03/31/2004 2:41:13 PM PST by jdege
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To: jdege
Don't forget www.xprize.org
4 posted on 03/31/2004 2:43:13 PM PST by Army Air Corps (To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
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To: presidio9
One of the competitors fired their 6-ton rocket motor this week. It went pretty well. SC seems furthest along, but they could be beat by a ground-launch rocket.
5 posted on 03/31/2004 2:48:20 PM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts; proofs establish links)
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To: Army Air Corps
http://www.xprize.org
6 posted on 03/31/2004 3:05:47 PM PST by jdege
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To: presidio9
I dunno why, but I've been pulling for Armadillo Aerospace all along. Hell, how can you not pull for a company that's got this little guy as their offical mascot?
7 posted on 03/31/2004 3:48:21 PM PST by Viking2002
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To: presidio9
bump
8 posted on 03/31/2004 3:51:13 PM PST by Captain Beyond (The Hammer of the gods! (Just a cool line from a Led Zep song))
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To: presidio9
"Build a spacecraft capable of taking three passengers 62.5 miles (101 kilometers) above the planet, then make a second successful suborbital trip within two weeks. "

Then the REAL space race will start between China and Japan to see which country can rip-off the design first and mass produce their own spaceships at half the cost.

9 posted on 03/31/2004 5:03:20 PM PST by bayourod (We can depend on Scary Kerry's imaginary foreign leaders to protect us from terrorists.)
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To: bayourod
"Then the REAL space race will start between China and Japan to see which country can rip-off the design first and mass produce their own spaceships [orbital fighters] at half the cost."

Gee, why would any military be interested in spacecraft that cost less than $10 million?!
< /sarcasm >

10 posted on 03/31/2004 5:31:25 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: presidio9
The prize should've gone up with time. Should be $25+ million now.

With just interest. But I'd suspect if they'd made it more known, it would've gotten a lot more endorsements.

However, since Paul Allen is funding SpaceshipOne thing, I doubt it's all about cash.
11 posted on 03/31/2004 5:40:38 PM PST by Monty22
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To: Viking2002
Go Armadillo!!! :)

Since I'm a Texan heh.

12 posted on 03/31/2004 5:41:19 PM PST by Monty22
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