Mitch Cronin Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 They're at about 34000 ft right now... about 10 minutes from separation and their attempt to claim the X prize... History in the making! (Nice to see all those real airplanes in the background at Mojave ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lavoy Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 (Nice to see all those real airplanes in the background at Mojave ) You're not referring to any particular piece of crap 3-holers are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Bite your tongue boy! ain't they beautiful?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Coasting with 20,000 ft to go. No rolls..... Looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 ..unofficial apogee 368,000 ft! ...gliding back and all is well so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Sure wish I could afford a ride..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Congratulations to Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites, and all! They've done it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Dang! Had to take my kid to school and missed it. Anyone have a link to video? b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 No. H054/04 For release October 1, 2004 DA VINCI TEAM APPLICATION APPROVED BY TRANSPORT CANADA OTTAWA - Transport Canada today approved the launch application from the Orva Space Group, also known as the da Vinci team, for a suborbital launch. The application is valid for two launches between October 2, 2004 and November 1, 2004. The approval and launches are subject to a number of conditions, including: establishing security controls to protect the public during the launch; wind restrictions for safe balloon and rocket launches; visibility requirements of at least 5 kilometres; inclusion of a tracking device for speed and direction monitoring; mission control staff's awareness of notification and communications requirements; having a range safety officer present to coordinate safety procedures; and, compliance with the conditions in the flight manual. Transport Canada has reviewed and approved the mission control documents and is satisfied that all the documentation, procedures and insurance are in order. Transport Canada is working with NAV CANADA for the issuance of Notice to Airmen, which is a set of instructions distributed to all pilots to impose restrictions and close the airspace around the launch area and flight path. The da Vinci team is expected to compete in the Ansari X-Prize competition, which offers a $10 million prize to the first privately funded organization to successfully launch three humans (or their equivalent weight) into space twice within a two-week period. The launch would take place near Kindersley, Saskatchewan. Transport Canada's Launch Safety Office oversees all rocket launch activities in Canada, pursuant to the Canadian Aviation Regulations, and reviews launch authorization requests for all orbital and suborbital rocket launches in Canada. No other applications have been received for similar launches. -30- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starman Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Congrats to Burt Rutan and the whole team! I think that the significance of this day will be more appreciated in years to come. If Richard Branson is serious about Virgin taking over the operation as a money making venture, it will open up an interesting new twist in the Virgin Airlines Pilot's contract. Will they operate it as a wet lease with Rutan's test pilots, or will there be a new spacecraft type for Virgin pilots to train on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neo Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 A remarkable achievement, Burt Rutan is an aviation pioneer and he deserves the accolades. If Vegas was making book on the X-Prize, he would've been the odds on favorite even from ten years back. Still maybe a little bit surprising though in one sense: it sure has taken a long time for a private concern to make the leap into space. Gagarin and the Russians started us off, what, 40+ years ago? Back in the 60's I would've guessed this would happen sooner. neo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neo Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 If Richard Branson is serious about Virgin taking over the operation as a money making venture, it will open up an interesting new twist in the Virgin Airlines Pilot's contract. Will they operate it as a wet lease with Rutan's test pilots, or will there be a new spacecraft type for Virgin pilots to train on? I see the Mother Of All Scope Clauses in the offing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 For your photo album... At the top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kilo Mike Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 A video link of the last flight..long, but seriously cool. http://www.xprize.org/webcast/webcast.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ikfu Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Maybe the price of jet fuel will make this an alternative to really explore. Maybe the time for this is approaching, or already here. You think about the comments make on the Science Channel live broadcast of this on the Mojave airport, and how soon after the landing they opened up the airport to traffic again. Later there were comments about how flexible the ATC system was to allow this to happen. In contrast the Canadian teams have been tied up in red tape to get a launch approval. Burt Rutan is amazing, and to follow the development of this technology through to the final goal is a feat in itself. I seriously doubted most of the projects on the go for one reason or another, but the idea of a composite structure, re-entry, didn't seem to make any sense. Maybe the Canadian government could have diverted Quebec advertising money and CDC scandal money into something productivel, like alternative fuel technology, or even the developments required for X projects. The methanol/liquid oxygen control burn rocket technology looks very promising, too, with the VariEZs flying around with rocket power - not Rutan's rockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AME Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 or will there be a new spacecraft type for Virgin pilots to train on? Based on the number of seat available (size matters) I can't see the left seat paying much more than a Navajo Sorry I couldn't resist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AME Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Maybe the Canadian government could have diverted Quebec advertising money and CDC scandal money into something productivel If they did that they'd never get re-elected besides the results of the last federal election proves that this is an acceptable Government practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ikfu Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Jay Leno had a good one-liner last night. So the SpaceshipOne Team won the $10M X prize - it cost them $20M to do that - obviously they aren't rocket scientists. Good luck to Branson, and the other investors in this technology. It costs money to push the boundaries of technology. I'm sure there have been many fortunes lost attempting what the SpaceshipOne Team achieved, but this is the beginning of this. Not equating two bicycle makers to Branson's flair (or motivation), but likely the Wright Bros didn't make vast amounts. In the end, probably Branson is not intending to lose money, but given his pioneering feats, making money is probably not the primary motivating factor. The comparison is one where the Wright brothers created a new era of transportation that maybe could not have been visualized by most people within the first few years of a few hundred feet of flying off sand dune just north of Nags Head, NC. Likewise with the feat of yesterday, I expect. The next leap will be a private enterprise orbit of earth and safe return. Then, the potential will be open to take off and land at any field within an hour or two. The interesting competition will be to designate an airport arond the world somewhere, on a few days notice, depart from Mojave and land in Bejing (without being shot down!!). As you think about the potential problems and issues with this, the regulatory bodies will have to start thinking about how the technology might have to be incorporated into the current structure of traffic that will undoubtedly have to mix for a while if and when space flight becomes a commercial venture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starman Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Good post. Another angle that the Feds will have to look at is criteria for "spaceworthiness" regulations for new space craft designs. Once you start taking paying passengers you have to leave the experimental aspect behind. I hope that the Ansari Foundation will step up to the plate with an "O - Prize" for the first to orbit the Earth with the weight of two passengers and repeat within two weeks. Now that would be a far more challenging step and one which would really open up space tourism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I think to be a "real" win, then they would / should have to orbit with the live cargo. Orbit with the additional weight only proves that the spacecraft can lift it, as a potential passenger I would want it proven that the spacecraft can provide the necessary life support also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ikfu Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 You can hand the "spaceworthiness" to the Government of Canada, and TC, the business will be dead before it starts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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