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Round the World Flight Set for Monday
An anonymous reader writes "LiveScience is now reporting that Burt Rutan's GlobalFlyer is set for Monday takeoff. The plane, piloted by Steve Fossett, has been grounded since January by weather. The mission: the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the globe via jet powered craft without refueling." Commentary also available from the BBC.
I would certainly love to fly around the world! SIgn me up!
I hope what goes around comes around. :)
The mission: the first solo, nonstop circumnavigation of the globe without refueling.
This is a really stupid question. Would that be a "low-altitude" circumnavigation of the globe? I mean, we've had manned orbits, right?
That's awesome. I'm from Salina, KS and nothing ever happens here. It's about time something cool happened.
Hopefully someday a solo session of Windows would last that long.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
The first successful nonstop, nonrefueling flight was made by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in their Scaled Composites Model 76 Voyager back in 1986. That one wasn't solo though.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Why is it cool when a rich guy PURCHASES technology and uses it? Had he invented flight, or lightweight materials or the combustion engine or something cool, then I can see it. Like his trip around the world in a balloon, what kid hadn't thought of that before - circling the world in a balloon. He just had the money to do it.
a nonstop solo flight around the world twice blindfolded without a parachute with my eyes closed.
why do we need to keep proving that yes, we _can_ fly planes and do amazing feats.
Hopefully he gets some frequent flyer miles for this trip. It would be great if he could go back to the places he flew over and actually visit them.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
Hal & Viola Leveller fly to Laughlin, Nevada from Southern California every week without refueling. And you don't see them being the subject of an article on Slashdot.
:-M
In this context, the term circumnavigate historically meant by boat or ship, however recently aircraft have been added. Spacecraft aren't included in this illustrious set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumnavigation
"This seems kind of silly, but haven't space ships done this thousands and thousands of times?"
Only if you believe in that sort of thing. I learned on "Coast to Coast AM" that the highest altitude above the earth by human craft has been achieved by invisible black jets creating a web of chemstrails.
Burt was the first with an airplane, but it was powered by props. Steve is trying to be the first with a jet engine. A single jet engine in this case.
Not powered. They're satellites once their up there.
The many NASA Mercury flights, and the first set of Russian flights.
Yes, in SPACE, this is an aircraft, built to fly through the air (lower atmosphere).
Spaceship == Space
Aircraft == Air
Think before asking silly questions mmmkay?
moo
"The around-the-world flight should be completed inside 80 hours" Jules Verne thought 80 days was hard to pull off. Imagine what he would think of this.
John Glenn did it for the Americans soon after.
I tried rounding the world. All I got was 42. I keep getting that number. Why?
anyone else find these sorts of things funny?
Filthy rich guys with tons of time who build nearly indestructible toys that (in theory) have little chance of failure.
When they finish, they are called "heros" and "adventurers".
While it would be fun no doubt... the amount of money these guys play with removes many if not most of the problems from the equation. Where is the "adventure" in that?
Do something like the Atlantic Rowing Challenge...now THAT takes balls (you and a boat together for 60-70 days vs the ocean? yikes).
I just don't see why these people can get records, awards or title of "first one to do xxx"... with the amount of money and support these guys have--I would be shocked if they DIDN'T complete what they set out to do.
"The plane, piloted by Steve Fossett, has been grounded since January by weather." Does he expect to have nice weather around the entire globe? No wonder it's taking so long.
I think a chap called Yuri Gagarin may qualify, and if he does not another Russian or one of the Mercury pilots definatly will
It may come as a suprise to you, but it is possible to store information in this thing called a brain
flight tracking via gpsd
The first human-powered non-stop round the world trip?
"Spaceship == Space
Aircraft == Air"
Space is just an arbitrary definition on where the atmosphere ends. It has no real justification other than the fact that atmospheric forces (such as friction) are significantly less. But that could be said of the upper atmosphere that isn't considered space. At a cruising altitude of 100,000 feet, the X-43 didn't experience the same forces as a 747 experiences, but the X-43 is still considered an aircraft. Before you enter space you are flying in an aircraft and when you reenter the atmosphere you are flying in an aircraft. Why then would your spacecraft not be considered an aircraft for its entire flight?
"Think before asking silly questions mmmkay?"
He/She did. Accepting the party line that space and air are concrete and different things makes life easy but doesn't really help describe the significance of major events, like the first solo around the world flight in the 60s by the Soviet Union.
Much more information suitable to the slashdot crowd is available at:
http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/
We don't like press releases or watered down news articles.
Also, I bet the US government has some recon plane that has/can do something like this. I know it's possible with mid-air refueling but I bet they can do it without. Just my $0.02
- Cary
--Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play
Check out the Perlan Project website sometime. Einar, the brains behind that one, is an ex-USAF and NASA test-pilot...but he isn't rich. Fossett was the only one who'd pony up the cash necessary to get it going -- on the condition that he get to be one of the pilots. He ain't no ex-USAF and NASA test pilot, that's for sure, but he sure does love dressing up and playing the Master Aviator, and he has the cash...
Yet another "around the world" trip that's not around the equator, and just follows the jet stream.
:)
I can grab the north pole and run "around" the world in 2 seconds, and it would be just as valid as their definition - i.e. lame.
But still, cool toys
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
It is an 80 hour trip - when does the pilot sleep? Does he use an auto pilot?
Besides just being cool to see this with a free tool, I'd like to see what sort of path qualifies as circumnavigation.
Obviously a round the world flight over Antarctica wouldn't qualify, but by staying in the Northern hemisphere and using the jet stream it would seem to abbreviate the full distance of the earth's circumference. (No doubt I'll get flamed by some people better informed than I, but I'm just asking for more info than the article and most entertainment-based media will give.)
It seems this lady is going to be upset when she learns that! Of course, she might also get upset when she realizes how hard it is to hold your breath when trying to cross the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans on foot. :P
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
The first remotely-controlled non-stop circumnavigation. And the first autonomous non-stop 'round the world trip. Both will happen in my lifetime. I actually think the former is harder than the latter, unless one has Milstar at their disposal.
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
just imagine you were in a space ship looking down on earth from above the north pole, you would see the earth's rotation spinning counter clockwise, so would flying clockwise be more fuel effecient than counterclockwise???
Next you will be telling me my spoon is not a spoon, it is however a tea spoon.
moo
What I'd like to know is how he plans on staying awake for the 75+ hours the flight will take. Amphetamines like the Navy jet fighters do it?
That would be newsworthy I suppose.
Last time I flew from Gillespie field to Laughlin though, it seems to me the trip was somewhat less then +24,000 miles and I wasn't at flight level 57.
Chocolate covered coffee beans and a dash mounted espresso machine...
I wonder if his cockpit will look like my car after a long drive - empty cups and wrappers strewn on the floor with a pile of loose CDs on the passenger seat (he'll have to use the floor or the dash)...
-----------
!!Danger!! Dissolves Fish
[All Your Fish Are Belong To Us]
There is a difference between wing-borne flight and orbit. That's not a "party line", it's a clearly understood distinction.
Some craft are capable of doing both. Some craft are capable of only doing one or the other. Some craft fly through the atmosphere without the benefit of wing-borne flight.
Why are you trying to conflate atmospheric flight and orbital flight? They're very much not the same.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
See here
It must be at least 36 787.559 kilometres, equal to the length f the Tropic of Cancer.
I know this girl who loves round the world....
I was quite sure US Air Force has done around-the-globe flights... I think a B-52 is capable of something like this... when it is not carring any bomb load...
I would love more information on this, please someone, explain the joke/info?
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
What is the clear distinction? Spacecraft have been affected by the Earth's atmosphere when they were clearly defined as being in "space". For example, Skylab prematurely burned up do to the expansion of the Earth's atmosphere in the 70's due to increased solar flux. Skylab was clearly a spacecraft. Clearly the definition of space as just a non-interacting medium is incorrect.
Where do you define the end of the atmosphere? Many scientists define the end of the Earth's atmosphere at about the magnetopause, which is further than the Moon! They also define the Sun's atmosphere to be at the heliopause which is much further than Pluto meaning that the Earth's atmosphere is a bubble in the Sun's.
For a spacecraft such as the Mercury spacecraft to get into "space", which is arbitrarily defined as being 63 miles, it must be able to be designed for aerodynamical forces. The Mach 1 cloud around the spacecraft being launched is clear evidence of this. To be able to return, it must also be able to withstand aerodynamic forces. The only difference in space is that the forces are much much smaller. But there is no clear point where they go away. They just get much smaller the further you go out. These small forces are evident with satellites that periodically need to boost their orbit by some means (such as Hubble) before their orbit degrades due to atmospheric drag.
I think your definition of wing borne aircraft being the only definition of aircraft is too narrow. Helicopters (which is just a modification of the wing borne aircraft), VTOL aircraft such as the harrier, and rockets all operate according to one principle: lower pressure up top, higher pressure down below, and if the difference taken across the surface area of the craft is greater than its weight it goes up. Bernoulli's principle isn't the only one that allows flight.
Do you understand what orbit IS?
Better than most. I realize that it is not necessarily a steady state condition because it is occuring within the atmophere. Other items kill this perpetual motion as well (such as the tidal forces on Phobos which will cause it to impace Mars in about 50 million years). To consider space to be a different condition than that of the atmosphere rather than a limiting condition is narrow minded.
Because we're human..
Hal and Viola Leveller are characters on the Phil Hendrie radio show. The recurring gag is that they call in to the show during their flight to Laughlin, and get into very animated discussions with Phil when they should be concentrating on flying their plane.
It's not the funniest skit on the show, but it is mildly entertaining. I personally prefer Phil's commentary to his skits.
And the Chinese flight.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Log in and ask, and I'll explain it to you. If you don't feel the need to log in, I won't bother.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
The FAI's rules state that a record attempt like this must start and finish at the same airfield and cross all meridians of the globe. What's more the course must not be less than the very precise figure of 36,787.559 kilometres (around 23,000 miles) which is equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer. To allow the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to catch the vital jet stream winds, the FAI rules don't oblige that record attempts follow the imaginary line of the Tropic itself but simply that the distance flown exceeds it.
with FAI being Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) - the world's air sports federation.
Go Rutan, first non-stop around the world (voyager.) First Civilain plane into space (spaceship one,)and now this
This also does not include his incredibly well known kitbuilt aircraft long and veri ez's, the Beech starship, or the numerous military projects he has done.
Rutan will most likly go down as one the most important aircraft designers of all time.
---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.
Its always amusing during a discussion that when one party does not have a valid response to an argument and they don't want to admit it they either: a) resort to personal insults, or b) refuse to continue the discussion citing some social construct. While you haven't done the former (and I'm thankful for that), you have done the latter by implying that the correctness of any argument that I put out is related to whether I have "Anonymous Coward" or "PZRocketScientist" as a name and by the assumption that your signature makes you an authority. Both of these hold no weight on whether or not the facts or fictions (depending on point of reference) that I have said are correct. Considering that you did bother to write that you wouldn't bother rather than just ignoring my previous post outright gives credence to this argument.
What I meant was, if you make the effort to put your name on your thoughts, I will be glad to discuss them. If you don't, I'll assume that you don't value them, and I won't bother responding.
But, hey...don't let me kill your buzz. Feel free to tell yourself whatever story makes you happy.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
im actually going to school at kansas state salina and i have seen the global flyer close up. they shut down our cafeteria to set up their 'hq'... here are some pics. pic 1 pic 2
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
Love that sig.
You just gained a friend!
You have a constitutionally protected right to be wrong, and I the right to ignore you.
...I've heard that Boeing plans to do a very spectacular long-distance flight with the new 777-200 Long Range model.
It sounds like Boeing might try to fly a 777-200LR with a completely stripped-out interior and loading it down with the weight equivalent of the interior parts plus standard cargo load in pre-cooled Jet A fuel. That could make it possible for the 777-200LR to fly as much as 13,000 nautical miles or so.