Let's Light This Candle! | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.28.24

Airborne-NextGen-10.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.30.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.24.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.25.24

Mon, Jun 21, 2004

Let's Light This Candle!

SpaceShipOne Ready For Launch

Scaled Composite's Burt Rutan expects thousands of people to swarm into the Mojave Desert Monday for his company's test-run at the Ansari X-Prize. If all goes according to plan, SpaceShipOne should carry one person to a height of 100 kilometers -- 62 miles -- in a suborbital rehearsal for the $10 million prize flight.

"We are encouraging people to come and bring kids," said Rutan. "We fly to space directly over the crowd instead of going way down range, and it lands back in the same place like a small, light plane at a private airport."

The whole world will be watching. "If Burt Rutan can do it with a couple of dozen people, there will be a lot of investment," said Rutan in an interview with the Washington Post. "In 12 to 15 years, we'll have suborbital space tourism that costs as much as a luxury cruise, and very soon after that, you'll be able to spend your vacation in orbit."

Monday's test flight is the final precursor to Scaled's attempt to meet the requirements of the Ansari X-Prize and collect the $10 million prize. To win, Scaled has to put three people on board SpaceShipOne and fly them to the same altitude of 62 miles. His is one of 27 teams vying for the top honors in a competition modeled after the time-distance-payload contests that popped up during the "Golden Age" of flight.

"If you can prove you can do this safely, you're opening a new industry," Kevin Marvel, deputy executive officer of the American Astronautical Society, said in a telephone interview. "It's real, it makes sense, and it's looking way forward. When I first heard about it I thought, yeah, right, but they've convinced me."

ANN's Jim Campbell and photo guru Tyson Rininger are on the scene in Mojave and will provide up-to-the-minute coverage of the SpaceShipOne event.

FMI: www.scaled.com

Advertisement

More News

Senator Pushes FAA to Accelerate Rocket Launch Licensing

States That Current Process is Damaging National Aerospace Development US Senator Jerry Morgan is pushing the FAA to speed up the process for rocket launch licensing. He argues tha>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: RJ Gritter - Part of Aviation’s Bright New Future

From 2015 (YouTube Edition): Model Aviator Aims For Full-Scale Career While at the 2015 Indoor Electric RC Festival, referred to as eFest, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell>[...]

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.27.24)

Aero Linx: Cardinal Flyers Online The Cardinal Flyers Online Web site was created and is maintained by me, Keith Peterson. My wife Debbie and I have owned a 1976 RG since 1985. Wit>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.27.24): Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time)

Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time) Used by ATC to advise an aircraft that the departure release is automatically canceled if takeoff is not made prior to a specified time. The exp>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC