Posted on 06/19/2004 9:48:32 AM PDT by BenLurkin
MOJAVE - On Monday morning, Mojave will become the center of the universe for space enthusiasts. On that day, providing Mother Nature cooperates, Scaled Composites will attempt the first privately funded manned space flight. SpaceShipOne, a star-spangled, football-shaped spacecraft will carry its single pilot 328,000 feet - 62.5 miles - above the Earth and into space.
"BOUND FOR SPACE - The Burt Rutan-designed SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by the White Knight during a test flight at Mojave Airport. On Monday, in the first privately funded manned space flight, SpaceShipOne will attempt to reach an altitude of 62.5 miles. SpaceShipOne is Rutan's Scaled Composites' entry in the Ansari X-Prize competition, which will award $10 million to the winner. "
Best wishes to the team!
Go, Go, Go!
It better be on TV!
This is great. I'm rooting for these guys.
Point of question here, easier than looking it up... Don't they have to fly up once, then repeat within a week to ten days to qualify for the prize? If they make it Monday, it would stand to reason they'd have to repeat in the next week or so, if my premise is accurate. Or does this trip qualify considering load or other variables?
This is appears to be just a trial run since ther isn't any mention of passangers or payload.
They either have to take 2 passengers or the weight equivalant on the actual launchs for the prize.
Actually, they way it's built, they could probably make the 2 attempts in 2 days, back to back even if they changed to fresh engines.
Thanks for the comments Dale. I saw some clips of this sucker on the television in the last couple of days, and it was very impressive. It's ascent really looked cool on video.
Here is the Scaled Composites news release:
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/062104.htm
Then we could take the tax money and devote it to finding a way to free us from being dependent on foreign terrorists for our energy.
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Viewer's Guide to Monday's First Piloted Private Space Flight By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer posted: 05:45 am ET 18 June 2004 |
Updated 7:45 a.m. ET Saturday, June 19.
The public is invited to watch history made Monday when a company called Scaled Composites attempts to launch the first piloted commercial vehicle into space.
Event planners expect a cosmic Woodstock. Motels in the area are mostly booked and plans are in place for an all-night party. The flight of SpaceShipOne from an airport-turned-spaceport in California's Mojave Desert is scheduled to begin shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET (6:30 local time).
MSNBC.com plans to offer a live webcast. Event officials said CNN will broadcast the launch on television, but CNN programming officials did not reply to a request to confirm that.
Radio station KLOA 104.9 plans a live audio webcast of the flight that will begin with traffic and weather reports at 8 a.m. ET (5 a.m. local time). Radio-only broadcasts are planned by local stations KGET 970 and KGOV.
SPACE.com will have reporters at the scene providing updates over the weekend and during the flight.
Flight plan
Scaled Composite officials expect a smooth flight, but anyone who follows the space industry knows that every flight has inherent risks.
In fact SpaceShipOne had a landing mishap during a test flight in September. There were no injuries and the craft was not significantly damaged when it slid off the runway.
Weather permitting, the craft will be carried aloft aboard the White Knight, a somewhat conventional airplane built specially for this purpose. An hour after taking off from the Mojave Airport, at about 50,000 feet, the White Knight will release SpaceShipOne, whose pilot will fire a rocket, powered by rubber and laughing gas, for about 80 seconds. SpaceShipOne should soar to 62 miles (100 kilometers), crossing the threshold of space on a suborbital trajectory. The pilot, who has not yet been named, would officially become an astronaut. According to plan, the craft will spend about three minutes in weightlessness, then glide back to Earth. It will land about 1 hour and 25 minutes after the initial takeoff in the same location. The launch is planned for early morning because winds tend to pick up later in the day. Weather could scrub the launch, possibly pushing it back a day or more. Viewing tips A public viewing area will include loudspeakers to announce aspect of the flight that can't be seen from the ground. Much of event will be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars are recommended. Event planners say traffic congestion could be heavy in the predawn hours before launch. There are a handful of motels in the town of Mojave, which is about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. Camping will be permitted at the Mojave Airport for Saturday and Sunday nights. The airport is closed to incoming air traffic. SpaceShipOne was built by Burt Rutan, considered an engineering master in the industry. "Without the entrepreneur approach, space access would continue to be out of reach for ordinary citizens," Rutan said. "The SpaceShipOne flights will change all that and encourage others to usher in a new, low-cost era in space travel."
With the support of wealthy investor Paul Allen, Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, is seeking also to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. The winner must use a privately built vehicle to transport three people 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth twice within two weeks. Monday's planned flight is one in a series of tests to prepare Scaled Composites for a run at the prize. A May 13 test flight took SpaceShipOne to 40 miles (64.4 kilometers).
More than 20 teams have registered to compete for the purse, and some besides Rutan's group are running test flights. Analysts say the money might be claimed by the end of this summer. The cash offer expires Jan. 1, 2005. Filling up
A list of services in the Mojave area, along with other details of the event, are available at Scaled Composite's web site. Expect a difficult search for a place to stay, however. Calls Thursday morning to 11 motels in the town of Mojave found only one, the Friendship Inn, had a room available Sunday night. Some motels were also booked solid in Rosamond, 15 miles away and in Tehachapi, 20 miles from Mojave. Others said they expect to have rooms but are not taking reservations. A few rooms were available 30 miles away in Lancaster, but the reservation attendant at one motel there said dozens of room requests had been made in recent days because the town of Mojave was filling up.
Please note this marvelous machine runs on rubber and laughing gas. American ingenuity endures!
Every little step counts, of course, but it's painful to watch these baby steps 35 years after man walked on the moon. Damn the Shuttle Mafia, damn them all.
If it wasn't for that pathetic boondoggle we would be on the Moon to stay and probably Mars to boot.
bump ... I cannot wait to see 10 of these things flying of together into orbit
Space Ping! This is the Space Ping List! Let me know if you want on or off this list!
Exciting!!
A cosmic Woodstock?
"There's some bad Estes 1665's going around. If you're gonna use the D-size engines, be prepared to take a bad trip, man."
Bert Rutan is provides outstanding example of how private industry, innovation, and individual liberty could run circles around big-buck government programs that operate as hidden payoffs to government-dependant aerospace corporations. NASA needs the royal flush.
I couldn't agree with you more, and it's quite difficult for me to understand how anyone could disagee with you.
When the Challenger blew up, you could see the guilt on their faces that they might have been responsible. People quietly said, "I wonder if it was us." I was glad to leave.
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