And so I have returned from the black-hole dev-null of server limbo and have emerged on the other side alive and refreshed. Which is nice.
But the big news of the day (if you're me) is Bert Rutan and his pilot Mike Melvill successfully testing their X-Prize entry SpaceShipOne. After detaching from White Knight, a first stage carrier plane, the smaller SpaceShipOne (a little bigger than an Oldsmobile) blasted off up to 62 miles from Earth, which put it right at the border where "space" is considered to begin.
Certainly a flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere has been done hundreds of times by now, right? So why is this news? It is new and news, because as a entry for the X-prize, SpaceShipOne is the first privately-funded spacecraft to accomplish such a task.
I first mentioned the X-prize in this space as an aside in this article, but I'd like to spend a little more time on it now. It was created in 1995 by Dr. Peter Diamandis, an aeospace researcher, in the hopes of inspiring the same rush of entrepreneurial fervor that helped launch the commercial aviation industry with the prizes sponsored in the 30s and 40s (and won by Lindbergh). Since that time it has grown in size and public interest, to a total of 27 teams competing for the now $10 Million prize. Much of the speculation and smart money so far has been on Bert Rutan's team "Scaled Composites" to win the prize. The design is really fascinating in the way it uses really new concepts in aviation to accomplish the task.
How do you win the $10M? You have to pilot a spacecraft with three passengers (pilot included) up to a height of 62 miles and return safely. Then, to prove it is viable as a reuseable solution, you have to do it again two weeks later. The test flight today was the first step toward that goal, with only the pilot aboard. Scaled hasn't confirmed when they will gear up for the actual run at the prize, but expect it to be coming up in the next few months.
Notes:
CNN Article on the Flight
NPR All Things Considered feature
Dammit! I was going to do a post on this. I heard it on NPR today while I was driving. I figured you'd do one though, and that you'd do it better than me anyway :-).
Did you know the guy who launched today spent approximately $20 million (according to what I heard) on this space-a-majig for a prize of $10 million. I guess he's not in it for the money.
So now they have to do it again, with passengers, or the weight equivalent of passengers.
Do you think this means people can take space tours of Earth the way people can take helicopter tours of the Grand Canyon? How much will that cost, I wonder.
Rutan estimated that in 15-20 years the price could get down to $10G. That's still a lot, but for a once in a lifetime trip, not so bad if you're well off. (Some people spend that on a vacation, and much more on a wedding) I suspect that once competition and industry really gets behind it you could see it go down even farther, though. Will it ever be "Orbitz-cheap"? It really is just too hard to say for sure. The prospect of carrying several hundred people in an airplane for $200 each across the country would have been totally unreasonable in 1918 (adjusting for current dollars of course).
So who knows what innovation could bring up. Maybe someday a shot into space in the same fashion would cost a little more than a helicopter tour on Hawaii. I certainly wouldn't bet against it.
You mention that "space" flight will cost less than a wedding. I wonder how long it will be until the first wedding takes place in space?
Yeah, that's got to be next. Not to mention the "62-mile high club".
The areonautical engineers are the current glamour boys (and girls) of space travel, but the development of a genuine space travel industry won't actually be possible until the structural engineers get involved:
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html
I know my wedding will cost a ton! That's because I'm gonna make it cost a ton. Hurray!!!!
I bet a cold wind just blew by Lucas's face...heh heh (Probably daddy's too.)
"I bet a cold wind just blew by Lucas's face...heh heh (Probably daddy's too.)"
Lucas needs to hear "the talk" about wedding planning. I'll post it as a comment next time Laura blogs a wedding/engagement related item.