SpaceShipOne Goes Supersonic
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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/18/1071337101311.html
Spacecraft built on the quiet goes supersonic on its first solo flight
By Jim Skeen in Mojave, California
December 19, 2003
A privately funded spacecraft built by the noted designer Burt Rutan has achieved its first supersonic flight.
The blue-and-white-winged craft, named SpaceShipOne, on Wednesday reached a top speed of Mach 1.2, about 1500 kmh after being released from a carrier aircraft in its first test flight powered by its specially built rocket engine.
"Our flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic flight is now the domain of a small company doing privately funded research, without government help," Mr Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, said.
"The flight also represents an important milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access is feasible."
SpaceShipOne sustained what Scaled Composites called minor damage at the end of the flight when its left landing gear retracted at touchdown at Mojave airport, causing the aircraft to veer to the left and leave the runway.
There were no injuries and the aircraft's damage can be easily repaired, the company said.
SpaceShipOne is a three-person craft being developed to fly more than 100 kilometres above Earth - 20 kilometres above where space begins. The 7.6-metre-long SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by a twin-engine jet called the White Knight, then let go to ignite its rocket engine.
To reach space, SpaceShipOne is to fly nearly straight up at a speed of about 3860 kmh, more than three times the speed of sound.
The craft is one of the contenders for the X Prize - a $US20 million ($27 million) prize offered by a St. Louis-based foundation to the builder of the first privately developed spaceship to carry three people to 100 kilometres up, then do it again within two weeks.
SpaceShipOne was built in secret and financed without government help at an undisclosed price by Mr Rutan, whose most famous aircraft was the Voyager, which circled the globe in 1986 on one tank of fuel. Mr Rutan unveiled SpaceShipOne in April at Scaled's Mojave plant.
During Wednesday's flight, SpaceShipOne was carried to an altitude of 48,000 feet (14,630 metres) over the California City area by the White Knight, which was piloted by Peter Siebold. At 8:15am, the flight test engineer, Cory Bird, pulled a handle to release SpaceShipOne.
The test pilot, Brian Binnie, steered the aircraft upward and fired its rocket motor. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier, the company said.
At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near Mach 1.2. It reached an altitude of 68,000 feet, the company said.
The flight was the eighth for SpaceShipOne and was the first powered flight. In earlier flights the craft has glided back to Mojave airport. SpaceShipOne began its flight tests in August.
Los Angeles Daily News
Spacecraft built on the quiet goes supersonic on its first solo flight
By Jim Skeen in Mojave, California
December 19, 2003
A privately funded spacecraft built by the noted designer Burt Rutan has achieved its first supersonic flight.
The blue-and-white-winged craft, named SpaceShipOne, on Wednesday reached a top speed of Mach 1.2, about 1500 kmh after being released from a carrier aircraft in its first test flight powered by its specially built rocket engine.
"Our flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic flight is now the domain of a small company doing privately funded research, without government help," Mr Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, said.
"The flight also represents an important milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access is feasible."
SpaceShipOne sustained what Scaled Composites called minor damage at the end of the flight when its left landing gear retracted at touchdown at Mojave airport, causing the aircraft to veer to the left and leave the runway.
There were no injuries and the aircraft's damage can be easily repaired, the company said.
SpaceShipOne is a three-person craft being developed to fly more than 100 kilometres above Earth - 20 kilometres above where space begins. The 7.6-metre-long SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by a twin-engine jet called the White Knight, then let go to ignite its rocket engine.
To reach space, SpaceShipOne is to fly nearly straight up at a speed of about 3860 kmh, more than three times the speed of sound.
The craft is one of the contenders for the X Prize - a $US20 million ($27 million) prize offered by a St. Louis-based foundation to the builder of the first privately developed spaceship to carry three people to 100 kilometres up, then do it again within two weeks.
SpaceShipOne was built in secret and financed without government help at an undisclosed price by Mr Rutan, whose most famous aircraft was the Voyager, which circled the globe in 1986 on one tank of fuel. Mr Rutan unveiled SpaceShipOne in April at Scaled's Mojave plant.
During Wednesday's flight, SpaceShipOne was carried to an altitude of 48,000 feet (14,630 metres) over the California City area by the White Knight, which was piloted by Peter Siebold. At 8:15am, the flight test engineer, Cory Bird, pulled a handle to release SpaceShipOne.
The test pilot, Brian Binnie, steered the aircraft upward and fired its rocket motor. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier, the company said.
At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near Mach 1.2. It reached an altitude of 68,000 feet, the company said.
The flight was the eighth for SpaceShipOne and was the first powered flight. In earlier flights the craft has glided back to Mojave airport. SpaceShipOne began its flight tests in August.
Los Angeles Daily News
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