Burt did it! The X-Prize has fallen....

[EagleRJ]

Pilot Brian Binnie has taken the SpaceShipOne to somewhere in the vicinity of 360,000', winning the X-Prize and smashing the previous sub-orbital altitude record held by the X-15!

Well done to everyone involved!

 

[nosewheel]

That was FANTASTIC!!!! CONGRATS TO ALL !!!

 

[LR25]

It is awsome.

But outside of just sending a spacecraft to where they did in the 60's, what does it conclude?

Spaceship One does not have the capability to do much more than that. I am definetely not knocking it, but just wondering where does it go from here.

With that being said, it is important to continue space flight private or governmental, but I just wish it was with a vehicle that could actually resemble something they could put to work.

 

[Bluto]

LR25,
I agree that it is a small step, but I also think it's a very significant step in the right direction. I don't know the exact numbers, but the fact that this was done without government assistance (obstruction?) and at much lower cost than government-sponsored space programs, should be a model for future exploration and growth. Hopefully, this will be just the beginning of an era of exploration with private individuals and corporations footing the bill, instead of tax-payers.

 

[Swass]

If you feel that way Bluto, why are you voting for Kerry and Edwards (regarding the taxation and big government spending stance)? Just curious because it has me stumped.

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

Hey swa$$

I believe the thread is on the great accomplishment that was done today by the Rutan group. If you have another topic, start your own thread under something else.
NICE JOB SPACESHIP ONE!!!

 

[EagleRJ]

SS1 was built pretty much on a shoestring budget, compared to anything NASA or the US Government has done in the past. The whole program was done with a budget of around $25 Million. SS1 can carry three people, and uses a simple rocket engine that runs on non-toxic, non-explosive fuels. It is built out of everyday composites used in the homebuilt aircraft industry, and (so far) it is simple to control and hard to get into trouble with.

The X-15 was developed for hundreds of millions of dollars, and used brute force to accomplish the same thing. It used a 60,000 pound thrust rocket that ran on hypergolic explosive fuel, and it was made out of exotic titanium, inconel, and stainless steel. The only thing the X-15 had more of was speed. It did over Mach 6.0 straight and level.

It's amazing that Burt Rutan was able to do what he did with as little as he did. His space vehicle is exactly the sort of outside-the-box thinking we need for our space program. We would need to see a lot more money spent and a lot more involvement from the aerospace industry to put a private craft into orbit, but we're definitely on the right track now!

 

[Swass]

I agree it was a great accomplishment, sorry if the post offended you. I forgot I wasn't in the non aviation forum.

 

[TonyC]

It is awsome.

But outside of just sending a spacecraft to where they did in the 60's, what does it conclude?

Spaceship One does not have the capability to do much more than that. I am definetely not knocking it, but just wondering where does it go from here.

With that being said, it is important to continue space flight private or governmental, but I just wish it was with a vehicle that could actually resemble something they could put to work.

The first Mercury capsule sent to suborbital space really didn't accomplish much either, in and of itself. Yet, it was a stepping stone on the path to much bigger and better things.

SpaceShipOne proved what we can do with a privately-funded, privately organized, privately staffed team. You should watch the Discovery Channel special on the venture when you get a chance, and you'll gain a better appreciation of just how MUCH has been accomplished, and how much work and achievement was realized in those brief moments of weightlessness.

Rutan didn't use a wind tunnel to determine how his birds, White Knight or SpaceShipOne, would fly before they flew. When he needed wind tunnel data to study the vertical "fins" of SpaceShipOne, he strapped one to the front of a pickup truck and drove it down the runway. His innovation has been remarkable.


Where will it go? You must have missed the announcement of the X Cup, a race designed to challenge men and women to build better, faster vehicles to reach space more frequently and with more comfort and safety. Imagine a day when 5 teams assemble to launch 8 vehicles in an attempt to set the new time-to-climb record to 360,000 feet, or the largest payload to 350,000 feet, or to retrieve pylons from space. There are bigger and better things on the horizon.

 

[EagleRJ]

Although mentioning politics brings up a good point related to space travel.

One of the Presidential candidates has implemented a long-range plan for building exploration craft, returning to the moon, and launching an expedition to Mars over the next 25 years. The project is well defined, using the spiral-development structure commonly used in large military projects.

The other candidate has no defined position on the space program, except that he wants what you want, and he thinks the other guy is doing a terrible job.

 

[EUT]

Pressure Suits?

I was watching that Discovery Channel Special, and found myself wondering at what point they need a pressure suit, and life support systems in space? These guys were just wearing a nomex flight suit.
Anyone Know?

 

[Whirlwind]

I was watching that Discovery Channel Special, and found myself wondering at what point they need a pressure suit, and life support systems in space? These guys were just wearing a nomex flight suit.
Anyone Know?

The space ship is pressurized, you don't need a pressure suit.

 

[EagleRJ]

I was watching that Discovery Channel Special, and found myself wondering at what point they need a pressure suit, and life support systems in space? These guys were just wearing a nomex flight suit.
Anyone Know?

The pilots are well beyond the point where they would need a pressure suit for extended exposure. Pilots that fly the U-2 (TR-1) and SR-71 wear pressure suits even though their cockpits are pressurized, but they fly much longer flights. The SS1 pilots are simply accepting a single layer of protection and hoping that they don't lose pressurization.

If SS1 were to lose pressurization, the occupants could still make it back to Earth using only their 02 masks (which they wear throughout the flight anyway). Their primary danger would be extreme cold, not altitude effects, because the flight is not that long!

 

[NookyBooky]

The pilots are well beyond the point where they would need a pressure suit for extended exposure. Pilots that fly the U-2 (TR-1) and SR-71 wear pressure suits even though their cockpits are pressurized, but they fly much longer flights. The SS1 pilots are simply accepting a single layer of protection and hoping that they don't lose pressurization.

If SS1 were to lose pressurization, the occupants could still make it back to Earth using only their 02 masks (which they wear throughout the flight anyway). Their primary danger would be extreme cold, not altitude effects, because the flight is not that long!

I thought that above a certain altitude (50,000? 100,000?) the pressure was so low that it would allow for the expansion of gasses in your blood. Dying because the nitrogen in your blood boiled would probably suck pretty bad IMO.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Since the airline career for pilots is so weak, maybe it is time to jump on the new gig....


Like the pilots of the 1930's with the airline career, how about a 2010's pilot with a spaceline career.......

 

[EagleRJ]

I thought that above a certain altitude (50,000? 100,000?) the pressure was so low that it would allow for the expansion of gasses in your blood. Dying because the nitrogen in your blood boiled would probably suck pretty bad IMO.

You're right that one of the main risks of sudden exposure to low pressures is nitrogen in your blood coming out of solution (embolism). That can be prevented if the pilot breathes pure oxygen for a couple of hours before the flight to purge nitrogen from the blood. High altitude pilots and divers already do this, and I'm sure the SS1 pilots do too.

It's a common misconception that your blood will boil if you are exposed to low pressures without a spacesuit. It is true that blood (or any liquid) will boil if it is in an open container- you've probably seen that demonstrated in high school science class with the beaker of water and the vacuum jar. Your blood is confined by blood vessels and tissues, though, so normal blood pressure prevents it from boiling. It's a lot like your car's radiator- it can reach temperatures over 212 degrees without boiling, because it is under pressure.
Researchers have exposed their arms and legs to an absolute vacuum in the laboratory without any effects. Some people even think that astronauts could go for spacewalks using only a heated jumpsuit and a pressure helmet. It would be a useful discovery since pressure suits are so cumbersome and hard to work in.

SS1 has a nose that can be jettisoned if the crew needs to bail out, but I wonder if the crew could bail from the apogee if they had to? It would be a question of having enough oxygen in your bottle on the way down, and not freezing to death before landing. The highest parachute jump so far has been from just over 100,000' by a guy wearing a full pressure suit. He went supersonic during his freefall, so I'm sure jumping from 360,000' would be a he11 of a ride!

 

[ez_driver]

I was watching that Discovery Channel Special, and found myself wondering at what point they need a pressure suit, and life support systems in space? These guys were just wearing a nomex flight suit.
Anyone Know?

From Scaled's webpage in the FAQ's for SS1:


Why isn't the pilot in a space suit?
You can think of the design of the cockpit with its dual seals and window panes as essentially a space worthy cockpit surrounded by a second outer space worthy shell. This redundancy eliminates the need for a space suit and allows the crew to operate and test the vehicle in comfort knowing that any major single failure will not result in loss of cabin pressure.

See: http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/faq.htm

ez_driver

 

[jarhead]

On a humorous side note to the accomplishment, Jay Leno did a bit about the $10 million dollar prize being won by this effort. Leno said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Hmmm, they spent $20 million in order to win $10 million dollars. (short pause)…”Obviously these guys aren’t rocket scientists” (rim shot!)

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

On a humorous side note to the accomplishment, Jay Leno did a bit about the $10 million dollar prize being won by this effort. Leno said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Hmmm, they spent $20 million in order to win $10 million dollars. (short pause)…”Obviously these guys aren’t rocket scientists” (rim shot!)

Out of curiosity, how much did Lindburg spend to win the prize? $10K? Did the prize cover all cost?

 

[jarhead]

Out of curiosity, how much did Lindburg spend to win the prize? $10K? Did the prize cover all cost?

Just saw the answer to your question on TV yesterday. Lindburg claimed a prize of $25,000. That was a lot in those days, but nowhere near the $10,000,000 in 2004 $$$