| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Private manned spacecraft unveiled by California company
Saturday April 19, 2003By ANDREW BRIDGES
AP Science Writer
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) Burt Rutan apparently wasn't satisfied with the development of an airplane that made the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in 1986.
The famed aircraft designer has now developed a rocket plane he reports is capable of carrying three people on a suborbital flight to an altitude of 62.5 miles. Rutan set no date for the first attempt, which will come after captive-carry flights and drop tests.
``I want to go high because that's where the view is,'' Rutan said.
He unveiled the rocket plane, dubbed SpaceShipOne, and the White Knight, an exotic jet designed to carry it aloft for a high-altitude air launch, at a hangar at the Mojave Airport on Friday. The private manned spaceflight program has been in secret development for two years, and was built by Rutan's Scaled Composites LLC.
Development costs were not disclosed. Rutan said the project is funded by an anonymous backer.
Success could bring him the $10 million X Prize pledged to the first privately funded manned space flight, but he suggested the money was secondary to the achievement.
``We'll go to space first, but if we succeed, there's $10 million there,'' he said.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, tycoon Dennis Tito, who paid Russia for a ride to the International Space Station in 2001, and Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh, attended the unveiling.
Space veterans Aldrin and Tito did not have any plans to book a ride on Rutan's rocketplane.
``Not yet,'' Tito said.
``I don't think so,'' said Aldrin.
The second man on the moon was intrigued by Rutan's design, however.
``I'm thrilled whenever I see out-of-the box thinking,'' he said.
Rutan's system more closely resembles the old X-15 program than the space shuttle. An X-15 would be carried aloft by a giant B-52, dropped and then boosted to high altitude by its own rocket.
SpaceShipOne, made of graphite and epoxy, has short wings and twin vertical tails.
A space shot would begin with the spacecraft mated to the underbelly of the gangly twin turbojet, which would take off from Mojave and climb to an altitude of 50,000 feet. The spaceship would be dropped, ignite its rocket and soar on a parabolic trajectory to 62.5 miles before plummeting down.
The twin tails would then pitch up rotating on booms attached to the wingtips to increase drag as the craft plunges like a shuttlecock, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3.5. At 80,000 feet the tails would return to their normal position and the spacecraft would glide back to Earth, setting down on two main wheels and a nose skid. Elapsed time from launch would be about 30 minutes.
The White Knight, which made its maiden flight in August, made a demonstration flight Friday. Rutan said captive-carry test flights of the rocket plane mated to the jet could begin in weeks.
Rutan said he's hopeful that spaceflight could be routine within 10 years.
``What we're trying to do is show that it can be done at extremely low cost,'' Rutan said, although he would not disclose any costs.
Two companies are competing to supply the rocket for SpaceShipOne. SpaceDev Inc. of Poway, Calif., and Environmental Aeroscience Corp. of Miami have each demonstrated an engine.
Two dozen teams have registered to compete for the X Prize, geared toward jump-starting a space tourism industry. So far no team has made an attempt at claiming the prize. Rutan was the first sign up after it was established in 1996.
Peter Diamandis, X Prize founder and chairman of its board, said a half-dozen teams were actively building hardware. He predicted the various competitors would make ``four or five'' test flights this year.
``It's exactly what we hoped to inspire with the X Prize,'' Diamandis said of Rutan's effort.
Terms of the X Prize include launching three people to an altitude of 62.5 miles twice in two weeks, or one person and the weight of two others.
Rutan, 59, is a prolific designer of aircraft, including the popular VariEze and Long-EZ kit planes. He is best known for the Voyager, which his brother, Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager flew nonstop around the world in 1986.
A second Mojave company, Xcor Aerospace, is using a modified Long-EZ powered by twin rocket engines to develop its own reusable rocket plane to fly to space. Dick Rutan is the EZ-Rocket's test pilot.
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