"LAUNCH PAD: The White Knight, the carrier aircraft for SpaceShipOne, taxis down the runway at the Mojave Airport after a successful demonstration flight and launch at the mated aircrafts' unveiling April 18.' ROB LAYMAN Valley Press files
Posted on 09/27/2003 6:28:34 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES - Burt Rutan, considered by some to be following in the footsteps of legendary aircraft designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, is making history again, this time tackling spaceflight. SpaceShipOne, together with its carrier aircraft White Knight, is Rutan's foray into the seldom-reached realm of suborbital flight.
The project is "one I think might lead to a renaissance that will provide jobs for all you young test pilots out there," Rutan said. "And I mean fun jobs, not testing new software on old airplanes."
Rutan and Douglas Shane, director of flight operations and member of the SpaceShipOne flight crew, presented an update of the work-in-progress to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots during the organization's annual symposium Friday.
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 innovative key to SpaceShipOne's re-entry is creating huge amounts of drag early on, so it lands at roughly the same speeds as a general aviation airplane.
To accomplish this, the spacecraft's twin-tail section lifts until it is virtually perpendicular to the wings and body, generating drag and slowing the spacecraft.
Much like the innovations at Johnson's Skunk Works, SpaceShipOne was developed in secret for the past two years at Rutan's Scaled Composites at the Mojave Airport. The dual-aircraft project was first presented to the public in April.
The White Knight completed its first flight in August 2002. The first cojoined flight was in June, and SpaceShipOne made its maiden glide flight on Aug. 7.
With veteran pilot Mike Melvill at the controls, SpaceShipOne was released at slightly above 74,000 feet. He went on to a picture-perfect landing, demonstrating that the vehicle's skid in place of a wheel on the nose gear provided braking to help slow it down.
The second glide flight deployed the drag-inducing tail, which also proved successful, as did a third glide flight earlier this week, Shane said.
Only a few modifications to the original design have been needed as a result of flight testing, he said.
Like the vehicles, the rocket engine needed to boost the spacecraft to altitude is also unique. Two rocket engine companies competed, with a winning design chosen earlier this month.
The SETP's annual symposium is a forum for those in the flight test community to share their experiences and pass on lessons learned. SpaceShipOne is no different, as Rutan presented what has been discovered so far in the program.
One critical component to making the project successful and cost-efficient is the fact that the White Knight employs the same instrumentation and is designed to mimic the flight profile of the spacecraft. This makes it not only a flight test platform, but also the "world's most realistic moving simulator," Rutan said.
Another factor for efficiency is using only space-qualified hardware, even for lower-altitude testing, he said.
The unregulated, nongovernment environment in which the project operates reduces costs and the project schedule, Rutan said.
Also critical to reducing costs are developing hardware from scratch that meets the project requirements, rather than trying to adapt off-the-shelf equipment, and using the air-launch, glider landing format.
SpaceShipOne is Scaled Composites' entry 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.
"LAUNCH PAD: The White Knight, the carrier aircraft for SpaceShipOne, taxis down the runway at the Mojave Airport after a successful demonstration flight and launch at the mated aircrafts' unveiling April 18.' ROB LAYMAN Valley Press files
That might embarrass them a bit.
There is such a design, Roton or something, don't know if it is Rutan involved. BTW, that one is supposed to do helicopter things. SpaceShipOne isn't.
Roton
Uh oh.
One of your mortal enemies is out there.
Someone is creating jobs.
Armadillo Aerospace's ideas seem intriguing but they've yet to build actual flyable hardware--let alone do anything close to a full-scale test flight!
Some other good news just appearing at space.com is that Rutan and Carmack have FAA approval for their flights. This was one of the big potential showstoppers, but it looks like the way is clear for Rutan's attempt in December and Carmack's attempt next year.
I hope he succeeds big time!
Regards,
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