It says here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3811881.stm
Should be worth watching. 13:30 GMT.
Attempt set for private space trip
SpaceShipOne, the first private manned spacecraft, is undergoing final
preparations before its historic flight to the edge of space on
Monday.
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, will be launched into
the sky by its carrier, White Knight, then rocket upwards to 100km (62
miles).
No private craft has ever been so high. In May, it reached 64km (40
miles) in a test flight, doubling its last best.
"It's all been done privately on essentially a shoestring budget
compared to what the governments spend," former Nasa astronaut Rick
Searfoss told the BBC. "It's a whole different model and we should all
be excited about the prospects it can lead to."
The attempt over California's Mojave Desert is due to launch at 1330
GMT.
Mr Rutan and his team from his company, Scaled Composites, hope the
flight will take them closer to winning the Ansari X-prize of $10m
(£5.7m) which will be awarded to the first non-government, manned
flight into space.
Windy concern
The pilot, 62-year-old Scaled Composites vice-president Mike Melvill,
will also rocket into the record books to become the first civilian to
fly a spaceship out of Earth's atmosphere.
Mr Melvill piloted the test flight in May.
If the mission is a success, SpaceShipOne will attempt the X-prize at
a later stage.
To beat 25 other teams in this race, SpaceShipOne must reach 100km -
space's official boundary - twice in two weeks with a crew of three.
Monday's launch is a key step towards claiming the prize.
"This will be the first time that any piloted private spaceship ever
goes into space, so it's of pivotal importance to the X-Prize
Foundation, and it certainly puts Scaled Composite's team front and
centre in the public's view as a front-runner," Gregg Maryniak,
executive director of the foundation, told the Associate Press.
When the X-prize is won, it could open up the skies to future tourist
trips to the edge of space for those bored of the usual beach holiday.
Monday's historic flight is being attempted early in the day (0630
PDT) because it is less likely to be very windy at that time and a
lower Sun angle affords a better view.
High winds or cloudy skies could jeopardise the flight plans.
But BBC weatherman Rob McElwee told BBC News Online that the weather
should be on the side of SpaceShipOne over the Mojave Desert.
Rocket burn
"On Monday morning, the pressure gradient will be loose," he
explained. "That means relatively light winds, and in this case, from
the surface to the tropopause.
"At launch height, it should be no more than 10 knots. But there is a
possibility of a katabatic wind off the high ground. That may give a
gusty surface wind around dawn."
A katabatic wind is a cool one that blows down a hillside. This is
because the air at the top cools more quickly at night then sinks
because it is denser.
If the weather does behave and the launch goes ahead, it will draw
huge crowds of spectators to the town of Mojave.
"We're going to have 500 media outlets here for this event," Robert
Rice, from Mojave Airport, told the BBC. "Who'd have thought it:
little old Mojave with just 3,000 people. It's pretty amazing."
The flight will begin with White Knight lifting off from the runway
with SpaceShipOne slung beneath it. The pair will climb to an altitude
of 50,000ft (15km).
That should take an hour, after which SpaceShipOne will be unleashed
into the skies.
It will glide very briefly before firing up its rocket for about 80
seconds. It will blast off to its target height of 100km in a vertical
climb at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound).
When it has reached its target altitude, the vehicle will change its
wing configuration to allow for high drag, and will start to fall back
towards Earth during which the pilot will be weightless.
At re-entry, the ship's special wing configuration will allow it to
glide back down to Earth in about 20 minutes.
Back for more
The craft will escape Earth's atmosphere, but it will not be able to
orbit the planet because of the speed it is going.
Going sub-orbital is cheaper and far less risky, but it still means
the pilot will have a stunning view of Earth.
Burt Rutan has been widely acclaimed for his pioneering achievements
in the field of aviation.
White Knight and SpaceShipOne are thought to be revolutionary in many
ways. SpaceShipOne's hybrid engines need special fuel that is safer,
and both White Knight and the ship can be reused.
The fuel used, specially developed by US firm SpaceDev, is called
hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). It is a mix of rubber and
nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
It is not volatile and it is more eco-friendly than other space rocket
fuels. Its by-products are water vapour, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide and nitrogen.
The conventional space shuttle's solid rocket boosters burn ammonium
perchlorate and aluminium.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3811881.stm
Published: 2004/06/20 23:07:15 GMT
© BBC MMIV
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