Mark your calenders. June 21 by Highiron02

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Mark your calenders. June 21

POSTED BY: HIGHIRON02
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 9, 2004 07:46
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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 6:07 AM

Science Fiction is rapidly becomming reality. On this day is the first planned space flight of the first privately funded manned space craft. Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites announced that the Spaceship 1 will have it's first official flight into space. Spaceship 1 is a three passenger rocket plane which is carried aloft by the White Knight mother ship. At approximately 50,000 feet the Spaceship 1 is dropped and it fires it's engines to carry it to something above 50 miles in a suborbital flight. The ship will then freefall and then glide to a landing at Mojave Airport near Barstow California. He has already flown his ship several times and the last flight was up to 40 miles.

The Ansari X-Prize is an organization that is offering a 10 million prize to the first organization that can put the first privately funded spacecraft into space. They define this as 100KM (62.3 Miles) above the earth. Burt Rutan is the leader in this field.

You may check out these interesting websites:

www.scaled.com (Scaled Composites website)
www.xprize.com (X-Prize website)
www.space.com (cool space and technology site)

We got you partially surrounded.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 6:47 AM

RKLENSETH

I wonder if that is legal and all. To launch something into space and then land it back on Earth. Doesn't the Federal government have laws against that?

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:04 AM

SCOTTISHBROWNCOAT

No, I don't believe it is illegal.
I am also probably sure it is also a case of no laws being set in place, either to forbid or regulate because this has really never happened before.
If it is successful I am sure the Feds won't step in, unless people keep dying during test flights and a big stink is made about it. So far that has not happened, and hopefully all will go well

However, I think if the Feds were going to stop it, they would have done it before their other flight when they went 40+ miles into the Atmo.

This is really the future of space exploration.

Bwahh!!!!!

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:26 AM

HIGHIRON02

There were quite a few legal issues that had to be overcome. The FAA does regulate aircraft but does not regulate spacecraft. Is it an airplane? Is it a spaceship? These terms needed to be defines. Air worthiness certificates issued. One area where the FAA does regulate is commercial aircraft. In order to protect the public, they do require rigorus testing (both destructive and otherwise) to ensure the craft is safe for public transport. This is one of the major expenses in developing commercial aircraft. Rutan has stated that he does not intend his ship to be used commercially so he is expempt from this requirement. He does have every intention of being the first (actually a company pilot will fly it). As a result of this he will probably get another of his designs hung up in the Smithsonian Museum. You may remember the voyager plane that flew nonstop around the globe on a single fuel load.

Mojave Airport has already been designated a spaceport for horizontally launched and recovered craft. Similar flights have been done at next door Edwards AFB with the X-15 and the various lifting body programs.

we got you partially surrounded.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:30 AM

STARHAND

Quote:
Originally posted by rklenseth:
I wonder if that is legal and all. To launch something into space and then land it back on Earth. Doesn't the Federal government have laws against that?

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.]

This is for real folks, here's another link for your edification

http://space.com/businesstechnology/technology/rutan_flight_040513.htm
l

Also Mojave Airport is on track to become a certified Spaceport in the very near future.

http://space.com/news/mojave_spaceport_040524.html

“but I’ve been sane awhile now and change is good” …Wash

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:32 AM

CYBERSNARK

X-prize is also a world-wide competition. If he can't launch/land in California, he'd just find another launchpad.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2004 7:46 AM

BLEYDDYN

Quote:
Originally posted by Highiron02:
The FAA does regulate aircraft but does not regulate spacecraft.

Actually, with the passage of a bill sometime last year, a branch of the FAA (I think it's called AST) does indeed regulate private spacecraft launches in the USA. A whole bunch of up-and-coming aerospace companies (collectively referred to as alt.space) campaigned pretty hard to get Congress to pass a law that would give them a fair chance. For example, Rutan's Space Ship One is flying under the equivalent of an experimental airplane license. So they don't have to get new licenses for each and every launch, and they don't have to go the full aircraft certification route (which is hideously expensive).

There was a lot of lobbying specifically related to sub-orbital launches (which SS1 will be) because that was a grey area that was causing a lot of worry for investors. There is also a lot of legalese covering the carrying of paying passengers in these sub-orbital spacecraft. If all goes well, private citizens should soon have a chance to buy tickets for an amazing (but probably expensive) ride.

There's a web site called RLV News ( http://www.hobbyspace.com/Links/RLVNews.html) that does a good job of covering this area.

--Bleyddyn

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