Tomorrow's the day! Go Scaled!

[dseagrav]

SpaceShipOne goes up tomorrow for it's first X-Prize trip!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1208783.htm

Second flight is to be on the 4th, the anniversary of Sputnik I.

 

[garf12]

anyone know how they verify the altitude?

 

[nosewheel]

An Altimeter ? just a wild guess.

 

[Folding_Expert]

anyone know how they verify the altitude?

They guess.

 

[PBRstreetgang]

The honor system?

 

[garf12]

well with 10 mill on the line I figured they would have some other ways of verifing it. Would an altimiter work at 100km up?!?

 

[U-I pilot]

my guess would be some sort of satelite vnav system where among so many satelites u can pinpoint the altitude.....

is this way off?
any other guesses?

 

[Westwindflyer]

They spit out the plane and time how long it take to hit the ground. Its very accurate

 

[Jedi_Cheese]

I would guess either ground based radar and/or a radar altimeter carried onboard.

 

[minitour]

well with 10 mill on the line I figured they would have some other ways of verifing it. Would an altimiter work at 100km up?!?

Does anyone else think that its GOT to cost more than $10 mil to fund this ... adventure?

Is there going to be a profit for them or is it all just for women...?

 

[Jedi_Cheese]

It supposedly cost Scaled Composits $20-30 mil to complete this project. When they do the 2 flights, they will make back $10 mil straight up. But, in the end they will make out like bandits b/c they will turn around and sell rides for several grand a pop. How many people do you have to take up at $100k a pop to make back $20 mil?

 

[minitour]

It supposedly cost Scaled Composits $20-30 mil to complete this project. When they do the 2 flights, they will make back $10 mil straight up. But, in the end they will make out like bandits b/c they will turn around and sell rides for several grand a pop. How many people do you have to take up at $100k a pop to make back $20 mil?

...im so stupid...

 

[TonyC]

How many people do you have to take up at $100k a pop to make back $20 mil?

N = $20,000,000 / ( $100,000 - ( OP COST / 2 ) )

[ or N = 2 * $20,000,000 / ($200,000 - OP COST) ]

where N is the number of passengers that can fly, 2 per flight, and
OP COST is the Operational Cost of conducting the flight.


If the OP COST is 0 (zero), i.e., the flight is free, the number of passengers required is 200 (100 flights). I'm guessing the cost per flight is more like in the millions range, which would mean they'd NEVER turn a profit.

 

[captainv]

>anyone know how they verify the altitude?
radar. NASA keeps track of millions of objects in orbit, down to stuff as small as an inch or two across. they keep tabs on every bit of space junk they can to keep the shuttle from getting clobbered by a piece of gear from the Apollo days. remember the glove that floated out during Ed White's spacewalk? (mercury, in that case) even so, imagine what a chip of paint could do to the shuttle if they were traveling in different directions, each traveling at 17,500 mph...

 

[gfvalvo]

>remember the glove that floated out during Ed White's spacewalk? (mercury, in that case)

That was Gemini 4.

 

[TonyC]

anyone know how they verify the altitude?

From ANSARI X PRIZE Rules and Guidelines:

10. Entrants will be required to carry an ANSARI X PRIZE-provided flight recorder to monitor the flight profile and altitude achieved.

25 minutes until launch time . . .

 

[Dash8]

half an hour ago, white knight was on the runway preparing for takeoff

official site (slightly updated)

 

[EagleRJ]

A streaming webcast is available on www.space.com. They're going to have streaming video from the cockpit as they get closer to seperation.

 

[TonyC]

A streaming webcast is available on www.space.com. They're going to have streaming video from the cockpit as they get closer to seperation.

Thanks for the link. He's home safe - - awaiting the official word on the altitude.


.

 

[EagleRJ]

Looked like a smooth flight overall, and Mike reached 330,000'. He started rolling pretty good when he was climbing under power, though. It looked like about 720 degrees/sec for a few turns, and then he got it settled down again. I wonder what caused that?

I bet SS1 is now missing several square inches of seat cushion material!

Good flight, Mike! Well done!

 

[LearLove]

Am I not seeing this right.....

Look at the glass ADI and then at the "dial" one at the top of the stack just above the GPS.

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=ig154_15_02.jpg&cap=The%20pilot%27s%20view%20of%20the%20Earth%20from%20White%20Knight%2C%20the%20Scaled%20Composites%20aircraft%20set%20to%20carry%20SpaceShipOne%20up%20to%20its%20high-altitude%20launch%20position.%20%20Click%20to%20enlarge.%0D%0A

 

[dseagrav]

Am I not seeing this right.....

Look at the glass ADI and then at the "dial" one at the top of the stack just above the GPS.

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=ig154_15_02.jpg&cap=The%20pilot%27s%20view%20of%20the%20Earth%20from%20White%20Knight%2C%20the%20Scaled%20Composites%20aircraft%20set%20to%20carry%20SpaceShipOne%20up%20to%20its%20high-altitude%20launch%20position.%20%20Click%20to%20enlarge.%0D%0A

I see that too... Wonder if the smaller one is turned off or something?
Judging from the window view the glass one is correct...

 

[U-I pilot]

maybe its just me but i see both looking pretty similar.

Both seem to indicate nose slightly low and a right bank....
do you see something I dont?

 

[Dash8]

maybe its just me but i see both looking pretty similar.

Both seem to indicate nose slightly low and a right bank....
do you see something I dont?

they gyro is indicating a left bank, not the right bank supported by the PFD and the view out the windows

perhaps that gyro tumbled? or was spun down on descent