Rockets To Race Over Wisconsin Skies

Iron Condor writes with a reminder that that the first race of the Rocket Racing League (last mentioned here in April, after its 2005 founding) is set to take place later this month at Oshkosh AirVenture 08. This race, says Iron Condor, "is exactly what it sounds like: NASCAR 1000m above ground in rocket-propelled airplanes. Created by X-prize founder/CEO Peter Diamandis, this is 'the next evolution of racing' (at least according to the promo video, which is definitely worth watching)..."

Comments

Re:Finally. . .

[smooth wombat]

To use the Answers.com definition of a rocket, which is pretty much what I think of when I hear the word rocket:

A reaction engine that contains all the substances necessary for its operation and is not dependent on substances such as atmospheric oxygen, drawn from the surrounding medium, and thus is capable of operating in outer space. Also called rocket motor.

If the engines of these vehicles are drawing in air from their surroundings, they're not using rockets, they're using jet engines.