Rutan hits 200k feet! Almost there!

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

Somebody step on your tail? It really is going to be tough. If
Rutan were attempting something easy, it wouldn't be worth all
that attention, would it? What, are you trying to belittle his
accomplishments or what he is trying to do?


Just what is the point of the whole X-Prize competition anyway? I
understand the requirements, but why do it all? The Rutan Voyager flight
wasn't particularly useful either, but it was something that hadn't been
done before.

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

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

Somebody step on your tail? It really is going to be tough. If
Rutan were attempting something easy, it wouldn't be worth all
that attention, would it? What, are you trying to belittle his
accomplishments or what he is trying to do?


Just what is the point of the whole X-Prize competition anyway? I
understand the requirements, but why do it all? The Rutan Voyager flight
wasn't particularly useful either, but it was something that hadn't been
done before.

Someone might have said the same thing to the Wrights.

The idea is to prove that privately financed space travel is both feasible
and reasonable. No government has managed to do what Rutan and the others
are attempting. The prize has the additional advantage of attracting media
attention so that, once it has been won, public interest in space tourism
will be generated.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

Just what is the point of the whole X-Prize competition anyway? I
understand the requirements, but why do it all?

What was the point of the first civilian flight across the Atlantic?

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

Someone might have said the same thing to the Wrights.


Where's the similarity? The Wrights were the first to achieve powered,
sustained, controlled heavier-than-air flight. Nobody had accomplished that
before the Wrights on December 17, 1903. But manned suborbital flight HAS
been accomplished before, four times before, and it was last done over forty
years ago. If manned suborbital spaceflight had any real usefulness why did
it stop?



The idea is to prove that privately financed space travel is both feasible
and reasonable. No government has managed to do what Rutan and
the others are attempting. The prize has the additional advantage of
attracting media attention so that, once it has been won, public
interest in space tourism will be generated.


So the ultimate goal is passenger hops as a commercial venture?

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

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

Someone might have said the same thing to the Wrights.


Where's the similarity? The Wrights were the first to achieve powered,
sustained, controlled heavier-than-air flight. Nobody had accomplished
that
before the Wrights on December 17, 1903. But manned suborbital flight HAS
been accomplished before, four times before, and it was last done over
forty
years ago. If manned suborbital spaceflight had any real usefulness why
did
it stop?


The earlier flights were not done in a re-usable spacecraft.



The idea is to prove that privately financed space travel is both
feasible
and reasonable. No government has managed to do what Rutan and
the others are attempting. The prize has the additional advantage of
attracting media attention so that, once it has been won, public
interest in space tourism will be generated.


So the ultimate goal is passenger hops as a commercial venture?

Yes.

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

The earlier flights were not done in a re-usable spacecraft.


So what?

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Shiver Me Timbers" wrote in message
...
C J Campbell wrote:

That last third of the flight is going to be tough.

How condescendingly generous you are.

Somebody step on your tail? It really is going to be tough. If Rutan were
attempting something easy, it wouldn't be worth all that attention, would
it? What, are you trying to belittle his accomplishments or what he is
trying to do?

One word: ENVY

In article ,
(Prowlus) writes:
Rusty Barton wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 13 May 2004 20:30:08 GMT, "Thomas J. Paladino Jr."
wrote:

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



SpaceShipOne re-entry - Flight 13P



Speaking of Re-entry ain't the front of the craft a bit unprrotected
in that department?

Reentry isn't really that big a deal for an X-prize contender.
depending on the flight profile used, Maximum Mach Number would be in
teh region of Mach 5. Not an everysay occurance, but also a much mre
pleasant environment than, say, a reentry from orbit.

Think X-15 (Which was flying the same profile in 1963) rather than
Space Shuttle. There's a big difference between the two.

This is not a slap at Rutan or Scaled Composites - They're doing a
damned good job, running an extremenly professional program, and
theu're my favorites for the X-Prize - or whatever the new name is,
nad it'll be a real landmark. But it's not going to be performing
anything at all like a system that will be going into orbit, or doing
anything other than carrying a couple of people to 100 Km & back.

The jump from X-Prize to Space Travel is like the Ortieg Prize
(Lindberg) to the Pan Am Clippers. (And the relationship of the
X-Prize to the Orteig Prize is not a coincidence) The one-time
expedition (It was too involved to call it a stunt) was do-able in
1927. The useful stuff didn't happen until 1939.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

In article ,
"C J Campbell" writes:

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...
Where's the similarity? The Wrights were the first to achieve powered,
sustained, controlled heavier-than-air flight. Nobody had accomplished
that

before the Wrights on December 17, 1903. But manned suborbital flight HAS
been accomplished before, four times before, and it was last done over
forty
years ago. If manned suborbital spaceflight had any real usefulness why
did
it stop?


The earlier flights were not done in a re-usable spacecraft.

Most definitely _not_ the case (Or to quote Mary Shafer, "Wrong,
wrong, wrongitty wrong!")
The two suborbital Mercury flights were not my re-usable spacecraft,
But they weren't the only spacecraft used.

On July 19, 1963, Joe Walker, flying X-15 66672, reached an altitude
of 347,800'. (Flight 3-21-3, Mission # 90 in the X-15 program.

On August 22, 1963, Walker, again flying 66672, reached an altitude of
354,200'. (Flight 3-22-36, Mission # 91 in the X-15 program.

Are you trying to say that the X-15 wasn't reusable? That'll come as
a big surprise to the people who got 199 flights out of 3 aircraft.

Note that the August 22 flight was originally scheduled to be flown on
Aug 6, 1963, but was aborted before launch due to a systems problem
(Computer overheat). There was an attempt to refly on Aug 13, 1963
that was aborted after an APU wouldn't start. Another reply attempt
of Aug 15 was aborted due to weather. So the second flight could very
easily have occurred on Aug 6.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

What was the point of the first civilian flight across the Atlantic?


To win the £10,000 Daily Mail prize for the first flight between the
US/Canada/Newfoundland and Great Britain or Ireland.