Rutan hits 200k feet! Almost there!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4970837/


Exciting stuff!

Rutan's SpaceShipOne hit 200,000 feet today over their Mojave test site.

Won't be long now I guess.

"Thomas J. Paladino Jr." wrote in message
.. .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4970837/


Exciting stuff!

Rutan's SpaceShipOne hit 200,000 feet today over their Mojave test site.

Won't be long now I guess.

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize. The rumor I heard was they
only put on half a load of propellant, today. My guess is they will go all
out within two weeks.

"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
. ..

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize.


That would leave them about 8000 feet short of the requisite 100 km.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
. ..

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize.


That would leave them about 8000 feet short of the requisite 100 km.

Nope, it would give them a 4,000 foot pad. Go back to sleep, McNicoll.

In a previous article, "Casey Wilson" said:
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
link.net...
"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
. ..

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize.


That would leave them about 8000 feet short of the requisite 100 km.

Nope, it would give them a 4,000 foot pad. Go back to sleep, McNicoll.

Are you saying that 200,000 feet + 120,000 feet is more than 100 km, or
are you saying that they went above 200,000 feet? It's not clear to me,
and that's confusing because 100 km is 328083.99 feet.

$ units
500 units, 54 prefixes
You have: 100 km
You want: feet
* 328083.99
/ 3.048e-06
You have: ^D
$

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
I must go down to do C again, to the ANSI C and the vi
And all I ask is a shell script and a tar to store her by
"C Fever", Paul Martin

(Paul Tomblin) wrote:

In a previous article, "Casey Wilson" said:
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
hlink.net...
"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
. ..

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize.


That would leave them about 8000 feet short of the requisite 100 km.

Nope, it would give them a 4,000 foot pad. Go back to sleep, McNicoll.

Are you saying that 200,000 feet + 120,000 feet is more than 100 km, or
are you saying that they went above 200,000 feet? It's not clear to me,
and that's confusing because 100 km is 328083.99 feet.

I second that, and figured someone was being intentionally obtuse.
Reading the article, you find that they actually "passed 200,000
feet", specifically to 212,000. But apparently just saying that would
not be consistent with whatever little battle is going on here.

$ units
500 units, 54 prefixes
You have: 100 km
You want: feet
* 328083.99
/ 3.048e-06
You have: ^D
$

--
Alex
Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.

From: "Casey Wilson"

"Thomas J. Paladino Jr." wrote in message
. ..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4970837/


Exciting stuff!

Rutan's SpaceShipOne hit 200,000 feet today over their Mojave test site.

Won't be long now I guess.

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize. The rumor I heard was they
only put on half a load of propellant, today. My guess is they will go all
out within two weeks.

Close, but no cigar. Besides the error in your math the X-prize requires that 3
people be in the vehicle in both flights and that the flights be no more than 7
days apart.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"B2431" wrote in message
...
From: "Casey Wilson"

"Thomas J. Paladino Jr." wrote in message
. ..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4970837/


Exciting stuff!

Rutan's SpaceShipOne hit 200,000 feet today over their Mojave test
site.

Won't be long now I guess.

Only 120,000 more feet straight up and they've made the first
qualifying flight for the $10 million X-Prize. The rumor I heard was
they
only put on half a load of propellant, today. My guess is they will go
all
out within two weeks.

Close, but no cigar. Besides the error in your math the X-prize requires
that 3
people be in the vehicle in both flights and that the flights be no more
than 7
days apart.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Is there any other group with comparable results or a "close second"?

Larry

From: "Larry"

Is there any other group with comparable results or a "close second"?

Larry

There are a few other in the works. I don't think they are anywhere near SC.
There were a few hopeful starts like the Clipper that used rotors to slow
descent. They had a few successful partial scale flights before the thing fell
over on landing.

One thing's for sure Rutan doesn't mind strange looking vehicles. This one
looks like something out of Flash Gordon.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"B2431" wrote in message
...
From: "Larry"

Is there any other group with comparable results or a "close second"?

Larry

There are a few other in the works. I don't think they are anywhere near
SC.
There were a few hopeful starts like the Clipper that used rotors to slow
descent. They had a few successful partial scale flights before the thing
fell
over on landing.

One thing's for sure Rutan doesn't mind strange looking vehicles. This one
looks like something out of Flash Gordon.
Yes it does.

I was admiring the tail- it's fully functional, yet does the job with a lot
less 'structure' than other aircraft.

Larry




Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired