Posted on 10/02/2004 9:00:59 PM PDT by jrushing
The world's first private manned spacecraft will make its second space flight in five days Monday in the final stage of its attempt to win a 10 million dollar prize, organisers said. SpaceShipOne is scheduled to take off at around 7:00 am (1400 GMT) and blast out of the earth's atmosphere just over an hour later in its quest for the Ansari X Prize purse, aimed at spurring a new era of commercial space travel.
Organisers of the so-far unique venture also confirmed Friday that the groundbreaking rocketship's pilot Mike Melvill successfully took the craft to 337,500 feet, or 103 kilometers (64 miles), on Wednesday's first flight.
In order to win the prize, funded by a private organisation and aimed at mimicking the 1920s-era Orteig prize that aviator Charles Lindberg won when he crossed the Atlantic in 1927 and which kickstarted the age of commercial air travel, the craft had to break through the 328,000 foot barrier.
In addition, space vehicles vying for the prize must send a manned, reusable spacecraft into space twice within two weeks, carrying the pilot and the equivalent weight of two passengers.
There are 26 vehicles in contention for the Ansari prize, but SpaceShipOne, designed by pioneer aviator Burt Rutan, is far ahead of the others and is by far the favourite to win the prize.
Designer Rutan said after Wednesday's dramatic flight that he and his team would examine flight data carefully to establish what caused the craft to corkscrew through the air dozens of times before it entered space to make sure there was no problem with the ship.
Veteran South African test pilot Melvill conceded that the hair-raising incident might have been his fault and that he "must have stamped on something" he should not have as the rocket plane was flying at speeds of around 3,000 kilometers an hour.
Like the last two SpaceShipOne sub-orbital flights, Monday's attempt to snatch the X Prize will take place at Mojave airport in the middle of the California desert.
The name of the pilot for the next flight has not yet been announced, but Melvill, who in June became the world's first commercial astronaut when he took the craft into space for the first time, said it would not be him.
How much are they spending to win that prize?
That's not the point of the excercise, my guess $50 million.
My guess for the pilot for flight two is Burt.
kerry's, after the 1% bounce from the debate, head is so full of hot air, he himself will attempt to float into space and win the x prize.
I suspect you're right that they're spending far more than the prize is worth. It's still a pretty good motivation, and I hope it keeps them flying longer.
My cousin has worked for Rutan off and on for years. He did a lot of carbon fiber molding on the ship.
Bottom line is capitalism in action.
Ping
I don't think so, I think Mike will pilot the ship, Mike is a great pilot and they don't want any mistakes...
True, no sense sending the brains behind the project up, leave it to Melville's experience.
Mike is a great pilot, he is no schmuck! this man can flat out fly! i have seen video of him flying an Extra(sport competition aerobatic airplane)! This guy is good....
I can't argue with you. It's more emotional for me to wish Burt would make the flight. He deserves to be there.
I know I know, I agree with... But IF something did go wrong we would lose the greatest mind we have.... Not a good use of assets
The last I heard the tab was somewhere around thirty million, and most (if not all) of the money is from Paul Allen. To him it's pocket money, but this is the type of project that's he's interested in.
The exciting next phase is the "Virgin Space" project. Richard Branson has a proven track record of getting commercial ventures started with a combination of his own money and outside capital. He's had the imagination to try things that others are hesitant to touch. I wish him all the success in the world -- and slightly outside the world!
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