4/22/2003: Private space vehicle designed

[Undertoad]

Voila, the SpaceShipOne, or SS1 for short. It looks small, but it carries three people.



And there's the whole load of what will be needed to shoot that bugger into space, including the White Knight (WK), the catamaran-looking plane behind the SS1, and some humans to show you the scale of it all.

This is all designed by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan. A lot more photos here of the whole thing. (Warning, those photos are HUGE.)

The concept is that the plane carries the SS1 as high as they'll go, 50,000 feet, and then the SS1 will separate and ignite the big-ass rocket to carry itself up to 62.5 miles. That's high enough so you're in space.

You don't spend much time there before heading back down; the whole trip is supposed to be only 30 minutes. You don't enter orbit - you just get way way up there.

If it works, it'll be the first private vehicle to make space and will collect a private $10M prize.

(I ain't going anywhere in that thing myself. It looks too much like a toy.)

Hat tip to 'spode again for pointing to it. full story here.

[CharlieG]

Originally posted by Undertoad
...snip...(I ain't going anywhere in that thing myself. It looks too much like a toy.)...snip...

Burt Rutan is well known for successful designs (the Beach Starship excepted) If he says this is going to work, I'd believe him

[Griff]

Originally posted by CharlieG


Burt Rutan is well known for successful designs (the Beach Starship excepted) If he says this is going to work, I'd believe him

I'll take the second ride.

[Elspode]

Don't forget Rutan's Voyager, which carried his brother Dick and his then-S.O. around the world, nonstop and unrefueled.

Burt is a bright boy, I'd climb in anything he designed without hesitation and ride it for all it is worth.

[arz]

What's that thing on the trailer in the left front of the "family" photo?

[Elspode]

The nitrous oxide/tire rubber fueled engine, I believe.

[That Guy]

Looks like a GulfStream to me. That's where Rutan keeps the in-laws.

I like those ads -- "GoRVing." "What the hell is gorving?" heheh.

[xoxoxoBruce]

"I want to go high because that's where the view is," Rutan said.

Now there's a logical man.

[arz]

I think that thing - the Airstream - is the fueling tank, maybe...?

[xoxoxoBruce]

"What the hell is gorving?"

It's a song, man (warbleing like a wood chipper)....
Gorving, on a sunday afternoon.

[MachineyBear]

Why do I want to call this thing the "RocketCow"?

[novice]

I wonder what Burt's aim is here. It can't be all about a lousy 10 million. He's not really achieving space travel, pictures can be had from a number of web sites and the shuttle is too small to allow a true appreciation of weightlessness. Where does the 62.5 mile high trajectory figure come from. I wish he would collaborate with Moller and give us the practical, affordable flying cars science fiction has promised us for decades.

[Elspode]

Suborbital is a reasonable baby step to full orbital, private, reusable vehicle spaceflight, I think. Plus, it is likely to be the thrill ride of the next decade if all goes well. Burt *will* make money, over and above the $10 Million prize being offered.

Sometimes, people just do it because it is interesting to see if it can be done. Sometimes, they do it for that AND money.

[novice]

Why not give the 10 million to the NASA r&d dept. Surely they're way ahead of the competition. Let them come up with a design, drawing on their vast experience of what does and doesn't work, then sell it to privateers along with exclusivity rights. If all he wants is a view he can go to Russia and buy one.

[Elspode]

NASA would chew up $10 million in ink and paper costs alone for such a project. Besides, the prize is specifically designed to stimulate *private* space access. Some people feel that the government shouldn't have sole control of space, and I tend to agree.