Posted on 10/04/2004 8:47:44 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
Brian Binnie (top left in image), flew the second leg of the X Prize competition in Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne.This is the final successful attempt for the XPrize. The $10 million prize is given to the first privately financed team who can make two successful manned space flights in a craft able to carry three people.
The aeronautic rules also states that the pilot must come back in good health, i.e. "survive for 24 hours after landning".
Images of the Pilots, Brian top left, and today's space flight - bottom.
"We are heading to orbit sooner than you think," Burt Rutan, the creator said earlier. "We do not intend to stay in low-earth orbit for decades. The next 25 years will be a wild ride. ... One that history will note was done for the benefit of everyone."
Rutan said he expects the flight of SpaceShipOne to have an effect comparable to a set of public demonstrations that the Wright brothers carried out in Paris in 1908.
The reason, Rutan said, is because those demonstrations showed people "that's something I can do, because a couple of bicycle shop guys can do it". In the same way, he said, this low-cost flight into space will lead people to realise that "hey, this is something for us to do now, this is not just for governments ".
Vulcan, Inc and Scaled Composites the companies behind SpaceShipOne, are of 24 companies from several countries competing for the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which will go to the first privately funded group to send three people on a suborbital flight 62.5 miles (100.6 kilometers) high and repeat the feat within two weeks using the same vehicle.
The nonprofit X Prize Foundation is sponsoring the contest to promote the development of a low-cost, efficient craft for space tourism in the same way prize competitions stimulated commercial aviation in the early 20th century.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has invested more than $20 million in Scaled Composites to create the manned program -- a fraction of what government-sponsored efforts have cost.
"Space flight is not only for governments to do," Rutan said. "Clearly, there's an enormous pent-up hunger to fly into space and not just dream about it."
The craft embodies several innovations, including a unique hybrid rocket motor, a new method of re-entering the atmosphere that requires no active controls, and the first operational space vehicle made entirely of carbon composite rather than metal.
The Eagle has landed. SpaceShipOne has won the 10 million X Prize contest, and opened a new route to Space.
The pilot, Brian Binnie, grabbed the previous Mike Melvill's torch and flew the second leg of the X Prize competition. A graduate of the U.S. Navy's test pilot school, he was at the controls when SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier for the first time on a December test flight, which was marred when the craft hit the runway of Mojave Airport hard upon landing and veered into the brush.
I don't think they want to burn it for 4 minutes. I think there is a limit for their thermal protection system when it reenters.
Good news, now the other participants using primative, suicidal parachute recovery systems can live!
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
Election 2004 threads on FR
When did those collisions occur, and which civilizations were wiped out?
I hope and pray you are right. I'd bet on an honest margin of 5-6%, perhaps less with rampant vote fraud.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
Election 2004 threads on FR
I'm not starting a thread for this, because I'm sure I've seen one, and really, who needs another SSO thread? Or another about Richard Branson. I do want to sleep with his daughter though.
Virgin Group Sign Deal with Paul G. Allen’s Mojave Aerospace
Licensing the Technology To Develop
The World’s First Commercial Space Tourism Operator
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/092704_scaled_paul_allen_virgin_galactic.htm
"Today, Sir Richard Branson announced that Virgin Group has entered into an agreement to license the technology to develop the world’s first privately funded spaceships dedicated to carrying commercial passengers on space flights. The technology is currently owned by a Paul Allen company called Mojave Aerospace Ventures (‘M.A.V.’) and was originally developed to fulfil Paul Allen’s vision of building the world’s first privately funded, reusable space vehicle (‘SpaceShipOne’), which will undertake its first Ansari X Prize flight later this week. The licensing deal with M.A.V. could be worth up to £14 million ($21.5 million) over the next fifteen years depending on the number of spaceships built by Virgin."
Paul Allen doesn't have enough money to produce the ships, he burned up what he could afford on the development.
Blame Bill Gates.
As the election nears, and lackadaisical (sp?) Bush supporters (for that matter, lackadaisical anti-Bush dolts) see more and more Kerry in the debates, and see the flurry of ads coming our way, I think the Republican election turnout is going to bust the polling places.
If we don't get off this rock, mankind won't survive.
The great leap up
The Age ^ | 6/21/04
Posted on 06/20/2004 7:44:25 AM PDT by Valin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1156858/posts
"But to obtain orbital velocity a much greater speed is needed (a typical orbital height of 300 kilometres requires a speed of 7.7 kilometres per second). At its peak SpaceShipOne will reach Mach 3 — over 1 kilometre per second."
Uhhh, yep. I wonder how many people checked my FR profile to see if they should hit the "Abuse" button???
What prompted my reply was that I watched the "From the Earth to the Moon" series yesterday and saw the 1968 episode. The contrast between Leftists and Conservatives could not have been made more clear.
On one side you have people complaining about wasting money on exploration, participating in anti-American protests organized and funded by the KGB, and generally trashing America. Many of them were actual enemies and the rest were useful idiots to our enemies. They lived for the moment, going on "feelings".
On the other side, you have guys working their asses off to make history. Solving enormous technical problems ... thinking.
I've never seen the difference between doers and whiners more clearly shown than in that hour.
Not if President Bush keeps ignoring the border. He stands to get nailed by crap like this.
Everyday AstronautPublicly thanking Paul G. Allen, who admitted to investing more than $20 million in the project, Rutan appeared to physically choke up when he said, "We were able to develop a complete space program from scratch for the price of one of those government paper studies." ...Mojave Airport Manager Stu Witt... said. "Nobody's ever done anything like this before," Pearson said. "That's part of what's unique about America--nowhere else in the world. It's a great day for the country." Non-military government involvement was limited. In fact, according to Rutan, the first contact between NASA and the program participants came in a phone call to Rutan the day before the launch to notify him that NASA would like to send an observer.
by Scott Gourley
June 21 2004
Popular Mechanics
reprised from
Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but am I to understand that they made the SECOND flight ??
First Alan Shepard's flight .... then orbit .... then deep space.
"We're also building the Pegasus, which is wings and tail surfaces for Orbital Sciences' launch vehicle. We are testing a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] called the Raptor. We are developing two different concepts and structures for reusable space launch vehicles, and we're doing work on a new propulsion system. And a couple of proprietary things that I can't refer to at all." *
I saw Black Sky last night as well and it was awesome.
Unfortunately, I missed the first 45 minutes so I missed the part about them losing a pilot? They said the name but I forgot who it was but they showed his widow on one of the test flight. Did they say who it was and how he died?
Thanks.
I missed the beginning as well - a decent portion of it.
I Tivo'd the later showing but will have to wait until tonight to watch it.
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