Tag: SpaceShipOne

SpaceShipTwo Point Oh!

“‘We want this program to be a whole new beginning in a commercial era of space travel,’ Branson said.” You and me both, brother. A little over a year after unveiling the White Knight Two, i.e. the mothership, Richard Branson and Burt Rutan show off the actual cruising craft, SpaceShipTwo.

“SpaceShipTwo is based on Rutan’s design of a stubby white prototype called SpaceShipOne.In 2004, SpaceShipOne captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize by becoming the first privately manned craft to reach space…SpaceShipTwo, built from lightweight composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, is similar to its prototype cousin with three exceptions. It’s twice as large, measuring 60 feet long with a roomy cabin about the size of a Falcon 900 executive jet.” And the price of a flight is still $200,000 American, so keep saving those pennies.

X2.

After SpaceShipOne’s historic win yesterday, the X Prize becomes the X Cup. “Teams will compete in five different categories to win the overall cup: Fastest turnaround time between the first launch and second landing, maximum number of passengers per launch, total number of passengers during the competition, maximum altitude and fastest flight time.“

The Mojave Run (in less than 12 Parsecs).

Despite an unplanned and disconcerting series of barrel rolls on the way up, FlightTwo and TripOne for SpaceShipOne was a rousing success. Now, if they can repeat the feat within the next ten days, the elusive X Prize is theirs, and the business of space tourism will have reached a watershed moment. (Indeed, Richard Branson has already announced he’ll be leasing SS1 tech to kick off Virgin Galactic.) But first, they might want to figure out what’s causing that roll.

X Gonna Give it to Ya.

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan unveils SpaceShipOne, a rocket plane designed to make private space tourism affordable. The design could garner him the X Prize, to be awarded to the first privately funded manned space flight. If it works like it’s supposed to, I expect Rutan will make a good deal more than $10 million.