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SpaceShipOne to Try for Space on Monday
CommanderData writes "The first piloted private space flight will occur Monday at 9:30AM ET. SpaceShipOne is planning to ascend to the 62 mile (100 Km) mark and return to land at its takeoff point over the course of 90 minutes. With only a pilot (unnamed at this time) on board this does not qualify as a run for the Ansari X-Prize. If the flight is successful they will likely try for the prize soon afterward..." An anonymous reader adds: "Scaled Composites also has this page about the event."
Put me down for a window seat ;)
what sort of snacks could they serve once this stuff becomes mainstream
was last seen striding towards SpaceShipOne saying "Smoke Me A Kipper, I'll Be Back For Breakfast"
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What truth?
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If this is the case, I wouldn't go until about version 6. Good luck nonetheless -- as this has to be one of the coolest frontiers (private spaceflight) in space travel lately.
Launches a piloted, privately-funded spaceship, capable of carrying 3 people to 100 kilometers
Spaceship one can do that, no? Or can it only carry one person? Thought it had room for 3.
Because it's a candidate for the Darwin Awards instead.
Really. I mean, I think I've got a good set of cojones, but this is over the top...
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> I wonder what kind of G's the pilot will experience?
With any luck, not these.
Something like an albatross buggering a duck, but for some reason, we'll all take a second glance and decide that it still looks like the coolest thing we've ever seen fly.
Oh, you said Planets. Nevermind.
Did anyone else read the article about the type of
rocket fuel that Space Ship One uses? It's a solid fueled rocket with a gas oxidizer. I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of it.
Here's the link
Well its off to the dentist. Then I'll be stopping by the local junkyard to pick up some old tires. Gonna build me a rocket.....
Now correct me if I am wrong... but isn't spaceship one funded by Paul Allen? And if so... ack... where is the open source contingent that will make an attempt!
It seems that Open source ideology should be applied to space.
I dunnknow...the idea of Allen Spaceport scares the hell outa me....
Yes, and this is a grand first step. And that's exactly what it was designed to be: a first step, and nothing more. You make some great points about the next steps. Thanks for your insigtful, informative input.
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You need to convince AST, the department of the FAA that is tasked with granting your launch license, that you are safe enough for the general civilian population. They do not care if you kill yourself or even members of your own team, just so long as the public at large is safe from your launch vehicle, its exhaust, re-entering expendable components, toxic propellent, etc. There's the additional burden of not landing on an endangered mouse or historical monument.
As you might guess, launching from a scorching empty desert with non-toxic propellents and nothing that separates and falls back to earth is going to be easier to license.
As an aside, most of the convincing AST needs is hand-waving and postering, but a good bit of it is also mathematical. "If the craft does not explode and creates an impact zone of this size with a maximum flight radius of this size, there are is 1 in 5 million chance of hitting Bob who has a trailer sitting out in the middle of desert. Since that's less likely than the established 30 x 10 ^ -6 expected causalties, we should be able to fly." Response: "OK, you're on; try not to hit Bob."
-Hope
... if Paul Allen doesn't claim one of the 2 potential passenger seats for the X-Prize qualifier, I'll never understand why not.
After all, he's already paid for it.
Yeah, the Atari Starship One rocks! I knew it could do it! Oh, wait...SPACEship One?
4) Getting back.
(I don't mean this as a "funny" post. Doesn't getting back to Earth involve a huge number of problems? Such as: atmosphere; avoidance of crash landings in civilized areas; and a few other things that don't matter if you just intend to land on the moon or Mars.)
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Okay, you've read this line of post's clear down to this level, but you haven't looked a the link. I guess I can let you in on the joke. The solid portion of the rocket fuel is a rubber compound. The oxidizing gas is nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Hence the subject of the main thread
Let me bounce this off of you...
And the line
You'll get a laugh out of this.
"I thought for X-Prize it was pilot + 2 sandbags... Or a pilot and two weights that approximated humans."
;-)
Or a typical american