Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Rutan SpaceShipOne Revealed

Posted by michael on from the look-out-below dept.

smartalix writes "Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, announced that they have been developing a commercial manned space program in secret for the past two years. The system consists of a carrier vehicle called the White Knight and a piggyback (actually underslung) orbital spaceplane called SpaceShipOne. My money is on this effort capturing the X Prize." Well, it's pretty, whatever it is. Space.com has a story with pictures for those of you who weren't quick enough to hit scaled.com before it melted.

8 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. In Secret? by ItWasThem · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What surprises me is that they went for 2 years developing this project "in secret"... why would they want to do that? It's neat to see that they've already done some rocket testing and all, but why announce now after two years when they don't even have a full scale version done? What did they get by waiting to announce?

    I could understand the secrecy if they wanted to develop the whole thing first to avoid the vaporware critiques, and then bam they come out with a ready-to-use orbiter, man that'd be sweet huh? But why announce in the middle of it? Need funding? Sick of keeping it quiet? Poor planning? Any ideas?

  2. The design shows some imagination by MyNameIsFred · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The thing I like about Rutan designs is that they show some imagination. They don't look like everybody elses design. And this spacecraft design is no different. It reminds me of those futuristic designs in magazines of the 40s and 50s. Very off the wall.

    1. Re:The design shows some imagination by silentbozo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      True, there's a retro-future feeling that combines the organic styling of the present with the rocket designs of the late 50's and 60's. Ironic that a basic design first proposed by private enterprise for the government (a manned booster/spaceplane competitor/forerunner of the US shuttle system), needed to wait for half a century before it could be built - not by government, but by private enterprise.

      Tom Swift would no doubt be proud of the resumption of US (and other world) efforts to open up space to everyman.

  3. Back Into Hiding by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Interesting
    > "We are not seeking funding and are not selling anything. We are in the middle of an important research program - to see if manned space access can be done by other than the expensive government programs," Rutan explained.
    >
    >Rutan said that after today, plans call for his group to go "back into hiding," to complete the flight tests and conduct the space flights.

    I don't blame him. If I threatened doom for six billion dollars a year of NASA Shuttle Pork, I'd want to be in hiding, too! :)

    Burt - you rock. You rock in the way that NASA used to rock. You rock in the way most NASA engineers would love to be allowed to rock.

    No matter what NASA does to try and shut you down, please don't stop.

  4. Just like Firestar by Michael F. Flynn by Opiuman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Firestar saga is about a billinaire industrialist who starts her own space program. However, her main motive is fear of killer astroids, not scientific curiosity.

  5. I still like XCOR's design... by Analog+Squirrel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know that their design is a long way off, but they have been spending lots of time on a their motor designs. They've even been testing them on a Rutan designed Long EZ(modified, of course). Does anyone know if XCOR is officially an X-prize team? They're not on the list...

    --
    I'd rather be flying
  6. anyone else notice this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... this image appears to have been fiddled with. Look at the red engine exhaust nozzle. Clearly been image-manip'ed.

  7. Re:Things that make you go hmmm.. by CDS · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In typical Rutan style (and the Rutans DEFINATELY have a style all their own) this bird doesn't look like it should even EXIST outside an Anime cartoon, much less FLY -- and only Burt Rutan could come up with a working prototype powered by LAUGHING GAS AND OLD TIRES!

    And in typical Rutan fashion, it'll probably work perfectly the first flight, and cost less than 1/10th what NASA could do it for :) By the way, Burt pronounces NASA as "Nay-Say". Kinda tells ya something...

    Interesting story:
    I attended a lecture Burt gave last year (at Oshkosh Airventure 2002) and he was talking about the Proteus. They were involved in an air quality experiment. There were several layers of airplanes in a vertical stack -- the Proteus was assigned the 65,000ft layer, and a NASA U2 was given the 68,000ft assignment. The U2 (which was only flying 3000ft above the Proteus) had a full maintenance crew of 40. The Proteus came with a crew of 2! Rutan stated that they spent most of their day on the ground, playing cards and waiting for the U2 crew to finish maintenance....