[Frank_Discussion]

This is OUTSTANDING!!! Also, see this pic of SS1 doin' its thang:

http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/Images/RLV/Scaled/17dec03316%20079_cmp30.jpg

[DouglasKC]

THis is really cool. I only have one gripe: What kind of name is "SpaceShipOne"??? It sounds like it was named by a 9 year old. It sounds dated and old fashioned. They could have called it something cool like "The Mach Fusion Machine".

[NormsRevenge]

Cool stuff, Thanks! ran across this.

Flight test of space plane ends with crash landing in Mojave

The Bakersfield Californian

Posted: Wednesday December 17th, 2003, 11:52 AM
Last Updated: Wednesday December 17th, 2003, 11:52 AM

MOJAVE - The first full in-flight test firing of the rocket engines on Burt Rutan’s newest creation was successful Wednesday, but the flight ended in near-disaster when one of the plane’s landing gear struts collapsed on landing.

The craft skidded off the runway at Mojave Airport and was damaged, although how severely isn’t yet known. The pilot, who wasn’t identified, was not injured, the Kern County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The aircraft, dubbed SpaceShip One, is designed to carry three people into low-Earth orbit. Rutan’s Scaled Composites Inc. hopes SpaceShip One will be the first craft providing private space flights.

SpaceShip One is carried aloft by a mother ship, and then released.

[BurbankKarl]

bttt ping

MOJAVE, Calif. & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2003--
Allen Sponsors Scaled Composites' Cutting-Edge X-Prize Entry, Attends Today's Successful Test Flight of the First Manned Privately Funded Supersonic Aircraft


Investor Paul G. Allen today confirmed international speculation that he is the long-rumored sponsor behind the innovative SpaceShipOne project, which broke the sound barrier today during its first manned test flight. SpaceShipOne and its White Knight turbojet launch aircraft represent the first private non-government effort to demonstrate a low-cost manned space effort. SpaceShipOne is a contender for the coveted X-prize.

"Being able to watch today's successful test flight in person was really an overwhelming and awe-inspiring experience. I'm so proud to be able to support the work of Burt Rutan and his pioneering team at Scaled Composites," said Paul G. Allen, who has funded the effort since he and Rutan joined forces in March of 2001. "As we celebrate the centennial of flight, it's wonderful to be able to capture the spirit of innovation and exploration in aviation. SpaceShipOne is a tangible example of continuing humankind's efforts to travel into space, and effectively demonstrating that private, non-government resources can make a big difference in this field of discovery and invention."

"Today's milestone and the SpaceShipOne project would never have been possible without Paul's tremendous support," said Burt Rutan, the acclaimed inventor and aerospace engineer who leads the project along with his research and development team at Scaled Composites, which Rutan founded. "Paul shares our energy and passion for not only supporting one-of-a-kind research, but also a vision of how this kind of space program can shape the future and inspire people around the world."

For details about today's test flight, including specifications on speed, altitude, etc., visit www.scaled.com.

For details about the X-prize visit www.xprize.com.

ABOUT PAUL G. ALLEN

Paul G. Allen owns and invests in a suite of companies exploring the potential of digital communications. Allen's business strategy includes encouraging communication and synergy between his portfolio companies for mutual benefit in the areas of technology, new media, biotechnology, entertainment, telecommunications and entertainment. His primary companies include Vulcan Inc. of Seattle and Charter Communications of St. Louis, the nation's fourth-largest cable provider. Allen is owner of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team and the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise, and a partner in the entertainment studio DreamWorks SKG. Allen co-founded Microsoft Corporation with Bill Gates in 1975 and served as the company's executive vice president of research and new product development, the company's senior technology post, until 1983. Allen gives back to the community through the six Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundations, which support arts, health and human services, medical research, and forest protection in the Pacific Northwest. He is also the founder of Experience Music Project, Seattle's critically-acclaimed interactive music museum, the forthcoming Experience Science Fiction Museum and Vulcan Productions, the independent film production company. For more information about Paul G. Allen visit www.vulcan.com

ABOUT SCALED COMPOSITES

Scaled Composites, LLC is an aerospace research company located on Mojave Airport.

[Elsie]

............He then configured the ship in its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will experience when it enters the atmosphere after a space flight. At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes. After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Brian reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a 12-minute glide to landing at Scaled's home airport of Mojave. ...........

 

 

Ok.     Just HOW do they do THIS???

[KevinDavis]

Forget the space shuttle, private industry will take over.


Space Ping! This is the space ping list! Let me know if you want on or off this list!

[anymouse]

AP: Rocket Plane Breaks Sound Barrier

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen told The Associated Press Wednesday that he is backing the project. He put the size of his investment in the "tens of millions" of dollars.

"It's just an amazing thing," Allen said. "It shows what private technology can do when you've got really creative people trying to push the boundaries of what's possible."

[anymouse]

Space ping

[My2Cents]

Absolutely outstanding!

[Final Authority]

I would be interested if there was any links, either direct or otherwise, between the work at Scaled Composites and the personnel at Huntsville in the '60s. I remember that German engineers and scientists advocated a different scheme, much like the concept that Scaled Composites is pursuing, than the Space Shuttle that was funded and been a drain on the budget of the space program ever since. German scientists put us on the moon and when they retired and/or were run out of the country or died the space program took a turn for the worst. Thank you Burt Rutan.

[greenwolf]

A few years ago I was reading that Dick Rutan and others were close to the goal of inexpensive small jet engines. Anybody know what might have become of that one?

The goal was to make a small jet cost $200,000 instead of two million. When you look at a small plane being manufactured today, every part other than one is modern technology but that one part, the engine which is 1940s technology, is the most crucial part.

Aside from speed, jet engines are vastly more reliable than piston engines and hence much safer. The trick has always been to produce them, particularly small ones, affordably.

[My2Cents]

SpaceShipOne in feathered flight --

White Knight and SpaceShipOne --

[Redleg Duke]

Woops! The left landing gear collapsed. We need to ground this man-killer until a government financed panel can be conviened to spend $40 million investigating this incident which has probably pushed the environment into terminal global warning.

This is a painful reminder that we cannot do anything without approval and guidance by the government.

{/sarcasm}

[Brett66]

A look at SpaceShipOne's mishap:

[AgThorn]

Love it!!

[The KG9 Kid]

BREAKING NEWS:

Private company finally reaches sound barrier in quest for space!