Dynaverse.net
Off Topic => Ten Forward => Topic started by: Gambler on August 09, 2004, 01:25:09 pm
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Private spacecraft explodes in test launch (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/08/09/bc.privaterocket.ap/index.html)
QUEETS, Washington (AP) -- A team taking a low-budget stab at the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private manned spaceflight suffered a setback Sunday, when their rocket malfunctioned and exploded after shooting less than 1,000 feet in the air.
No one was hurt in the test of the Rubicon 1 just south of Olympic National Park. The 23-foot-long, 38-inch-diameter spacecraft held three dummies simulating the weight of astronauts.
The rocket, which crashed about 200 feet from takeoff after its parachute failed to deploy, will have to be completely rebuilt, said Eric Meier, a mechanical engineer and co-founder of Space Transport Corp., of Forks.
Meier and partner Phillip Storm had hoped to reach supersonic speeds and an altitude of 20,000 feet in Sunday's flight, but Meier seemed undeterred by Sunday's failure.
"We need to raise some more money ... fix our problems and launch another low-altitude flight as soon as possible," Meier told The Associated Press. "It's a learning experience to be expected when you're developing a vehicle with this kind of capabilities."
More than two dozen teams are competing to win the X Prize, which is promised to the first organization to successfully launch a privately financed, reusable craft that makes a suborbital flight 62 miles high twice within two weeks while carrying a pilot and weight equivalent to two other people.
The first private manned spaceflight took place in June, when SpaceShipOne, a craft funded by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, reached the required altitude on a test flight. The SpaceShipOne team plans to make its first X Prize qualifying flight in late September, and a Canadian team plans its own qualifying flight a few days later.
The rocket launched Sunday cost $20,000 to build. Meier said he hoped the fact that "we work for cheap" would make raising the money to build another rocket a little easier. The partners have invested about $100,000 of their own funds in the company.
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I am so jealous of all the different teams participating in the X Prize. Even in failure you know they're are having one hell of a time trying to do this.
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A 2nd X-Prize story. Use the links to get the FULL story.
Armadillo Aerospace?s X Prize Prototype Crashes
Link to story (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/armadillo_crash_040810.html)
Armadillo Aerospace of Mesquite, Texas has reported a crash last weekend of their prototype X Prize rocket.
The launch took place in a 100 acre test site, with high expectations of seeing another successful boosted hop. The vehicle had been operating perfectly on all tests prior to the mishap.
The unpiloted vehicle shot up to nearly 600 feet in an August 7 test, but then ran out of fuel, crashing to the ground. Telemetry from the vehicle was received from the rocket all the way to the time of impact, not too distant from its takeoff point.
?The vehicle hit the ground basically sideways, a little tail first,? reported John Carmack, leader of the group. He is co-founder and chief technical engineer of id Software, responsible for the highly successful Doom computer game, among others.
?$35,000 of rocket is now a whole lot of primo Armadillo Droppings,? Carmack reported on their web site. ?It?s a good thing Doom 3 is selling very well,? he added.
Not a good week for contenders.