| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
18 Dec 2003 10:46:14 AM |
| Object: |
OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3217961/
Cosmic Log by Alan Boyle
• Dec. 17, 2003 | Updated 10 p.m. ET
SpaceShipOne goes supersonic:
The suborbital spaceship being tested by aircraft designer Burt Rutan
and his team at Scaled Composites fired its rocket engine and went
supersonic for the first time today, on the centennial of the Wright
brothers' historic first flight. Hours later, multibillionaire Paul
Allen confirmed long-rumbling rumors that he was the financial backer of
Rutan's space effort.
The day's developments brought the underpinnings of the White Knight /
SpaceShipOne program into the clearest focus yet — and added to a sense
that the dawn of the age of private-enterprise spaceflight was just
months away.
"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," Scaled Composites, based in Mojave,
Calif., said in a news release. "The flight also represents an important
milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access
is feasible."
Rutan's launch system is designed to take passengers to the edge of
space — beyond 100 kilometers or 328,000 feet in altitude — and win the
$10 million X Prize in the process. It involves a White Knight carrier
jet as well as the SpaceShipOne rocket plane, which is attached to the
White Knight at takeoff.
According to Scaled Composites' account of today's test, the White
Knight brought SpaceShipOne to 48,000 feet, then released it. Test
pilot Brian Binnie fired the hybrid rocket motor, accelerating to 3 G's
and flying near Mach 1.2 (930 mph).
Components of the rocket motor were supplied by SpaceDev, a company
based in Poway, Calif. James Benson, SpaceDev's chairman and chief
executive, provided a breathless account of today's test flight.
"It was an incredible sight!" he said. "We were watching as the White
Knight dropped SpaceShipOne at about 10 miles up, and we waited
breathlessly as the White Knight peeled off and SpaceShipOne fell for a
few seconds. Then with a really visible flash of light and stream of
smoke, our rocket motor lit, and SpaceShipOne seemed to blast straight
up for about 15 seconds that seemed like minutes. Then the flame and
smoke stopped, but you could still see little SpaceShipOne coasting up
toward space at an incredible speed. What a sight! It was even more
exciting than watching Apollo 17 lift off at night way back in 1972.
After working on this project for four years, space is now exciting
again!"
Vertical flight topped out at 68,000 feet, and Binnie then went into a
"feathered" glide that reproduced the near-weightless feeling of a
suborbital space flight.
"After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Brian
reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a
12-minute glide to landing at Scaled's home airport of Mojave," Scaled
Composites reported. "The landing was not without incident, as the left
landing gear retracted at touchdown, causing the ship to veer to the
left and leave the runway with its left wing down. Damage from the
landing incident was minor and will easily be repaired. There were no
injuries."
Traditionally, Scaled Composites has held the details of its flight
testing program close to its chest. Weeks ago, some observers had
speculated that Rutan's team might actually attempt a spaceflight on
today's historic date. The supersonic flight didn't quite meet that
standard, but it was still a history-making way to mark the Wright
brothers centennial.
The centennial and SpaceShipOne's success emboldened Allen to declare
tonight that he has funded the SpaceShipOne project since March 2001. He
told The Associated Press that he has put "tens of millions of dollars"
into the effort.
Allen is a co-founder of Microsoft Corp. who currently owns a wide
variety of ventures, ranging from Charter Communications, the nation's
fourth-largest cable provider, to the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA
and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. His estimated net worth of $22
billion makes him No. 3 on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest
Americans, behind fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and
mega-investor Warren Buffett. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)
"Being able to watch today's successful test flight in person was really
an overwhelming and awe-inspiring experience," Allen said in a statement
released by Seattle-based Vulcan Inc., one of his primary companies.
"I'm so proud to be able to support the work of Burt Rutan and his
pioneering team at Scaled Composites."
Allen also referred to the fortuitous timing of the supersonic test.
"As we celebrate the centennial of flight, it's wonderful to be able to
capture the spirit of innovation and exploration in aviation," he said.
"SpaceShipOne is a tangible example of continuing humankind's efforts to
travel into space, and effectively demonstrating that private,
nongovernmental resources can make a big difference in this field of
discovery and invention."
Rutan was quoted as saying that SpaceShipOne "would never have been
possible" without Allen's support.
"Paul shares our energy and passion for not only supporting
one-of-a-kind research, but also a vision of how this kind of space
program can shape the future and inspire people around the world," Rutan
said.
SpaceShipOne isn't the only serious competitor for the X Prize, but
today's announcements solidified its position as the front-runner. The
widely held expectation is that the prize could be won within the next
few months. Is today's supersonic outing a sign that victory is at hand,
or are the highest hurdles still ahead? What do you think?
© 2003 MSNBC.com
Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
and
SCAMPERMEISTER!"
When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
When things are rough, can't SCAMPER enough!
/end humour alert
alt.atheism military veteran #11
{so much for the 'no atheists in foxholes' rubbish}
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| User: "Mekkala" |
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| Title: Re: OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
18 Dec 2003 12:56:14 PM |
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On 18 Dec 2003, stoney <stoney@the.net> screwed up his face, groaned,
pushed hard, and farted out the following message in
news:i3m3uvgt1t6iu7vo06ovaeo1q18r499mqt@4ax.com:
This is really awesome. I think this is the key to exploring outer
space -- getting private industry involved in the space program. If
private companies can be convinced that there is profit in space
exploration, we'll be out there very quickly and in large numbers. Yes,
space exploration is extremely expensive right now, but I guarantee,
with the proper motivation, private companies will find cheap, easy,
reliable, and safe ways to open up outer space for exploration.
Now's the time for me to join the air force and become a pilot, so I can
then apply for a job flying some of these new spaceships as they're
developed :)
Christ, I'm getting chills up and down my spine just thinking about
it... That would be such a dream come true, I would kill for the
chance... To be able to explore a frontier so unknown and new to
mankind... To be at the forefront of expanding mankind's knowledge of
new places... To see things and to go places that no man has ever gone
before...
--
Mekkala, Atheist #2148
"Atheism is ... the bed-rock of sanity in a world of madness."
--Emmett F. Fields
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
21 Dec 2003 08:56:09 PM |
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On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 18:56:14 GMT, Mekkala
<joremovedathiskimtoreply@attbi.com>, Message ID:
<Xns945583C76D925Mekkala@199.45.49.11> wrote in alt.atheism;
On 18 Dec 2003, stoney <stoney@the.net> screwed up his face, groaned,
pushed hard, and farted out the following message in
news:i3m3uvgt1t6iu7vo06ovaeo1q18r499mqt@4ax.com:
This is really awesome.
Yeah, it is.... :)
I think this is the key to exploring outer
space -- getting private industry involved in the space program. If
private companies can be convinced that there is profit in space
exploration, we'll be out there very quickly and in large numbers. Yes,
space exploration is extremely expensive right now, but I guarantee,
with the proper motivation, private companies will find cheap, easy,
reliable, and safe ways to open up outer space for exploration.
In the 16 and 1700's travel from Britain to the U.S. was extremely
expensive. As time went on new technologies made things more efficient
and the prices came down.
Now's the time for me to join the air force and become a pilot, so I can
then apply for a job flying some of these new spaceships as they're
developed :)
Christ, I'm getting chills up and down my spine just thinking about
it... That would be such a dream come true, I would kill for the
chance... To be able to explore a frontier so unknown and new to
mankind... To be at the forefront of expanding mankind's knowledge of
new places... To see things and to go places that no man has ever gone
before...
Go for it.... :)
Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
and
SCAMPERMEISTER!"
When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
When things are rough, can't SCAMPER enough!
/end humour alert
alt.atheism military veteran #11
{so much for the 'no atheists in foxholes' rubbish}
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
22 Dec 2003 12:01:25 AM |
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On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:56:09 -0800, stoney <stoney@the.net> posted in
alt.atheism:
In the 16 and 1700's travel from Britain to the U.S. was extremely
expensive. As time went on new technologies made things more efficient
and the prices came down.
"New technologies" didn't come about until the middle of the 19th
century, Stoney. Ships in the early 1800s were still sailing ships.
--
"Christianity has already had the chance to govern
the world according to its own ethical standards.
It was called the "Dark Ages".
- Bill, The Avender
(random sig, produced by SigChanger)
rukbat at optonline dot net
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| User: "Fred Stone" |
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| Title: Re: OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
22 Dec 2003 09:39:41 AM |
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Al Klein wrote:
On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:56:09 -0800, stoney <stoney@the.net> posted in
alt.atheism:
In the 16 and 1700's travel from Britain to the U.S. was extremely
expensive. As time went on new technologies made things more efficient
and the prices came down.
"New technologies" didn't come about until the middle of the 19th
century, Stoney. Ships in the early 1800s were still sailing ships.
Propulsion isn't the only ship technology. And even sails were
continually improved.
--
Fred Stone
October 2001 Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar: "The
situation where we are now, there are two things: either death or
victory. To those who are fighting and bombarding us, they should
understand the Afghan man is a fighter willing to die for jihad."
June 1944 General George S. Patton: "I want you to remember that no
***** ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the
other poor dumb ***** die for his country..."
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: OT: SpaceShipOne goes supersonic: |
23 Dec 2003 09:53:31 AM |
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On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:01:25 -0500, Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid>,
Message ID: <a22duv410tjhu11ish8913ol09ec1kjtt7@Pern.rk> wrote in
alt.atheism;
On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:56:09 -0800, stoney <stoney@the.net> posted in
alt.atheism:
In the 16 and 1700's travel from Britain to the U.S. was extremely
expensive. As time went on new technologies made things more efficient
and the prices came down.
"New technologies" didn't come about until the middle of the 19th
century, Stoney. Ships in the early 1800s were still sailing ships.
Yes. I was thinking refinining of current hull and sail designs and
possibly handling of sail techniques. Apologies for not being clear.
Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
and
SCAMPERMEISTER!"
When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
When things are rough, can't SCAMPER enough!
/end humour alert
alt.atheism military veteran #11
{so much for the 'no atheists in foxholes' rubbish}
.
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