Burt Rutan update

Thanks for the update, William. Way to go Burt and crew!!

 

Launch conditions were 46,000 feet and 120 knots. Motor light off occurred 10 seconds after release and the vehicle boosted smoothly to 150,000 feet and Mach 2.5. Subsequent coast to apogee of 211,400 feet. During a portion of the boost, the flight director display was inoperative, however the pilot continued the planned trajectory referencing the external horizon. Reaction control authority was as predicted and the vehicle recovered in feather experiencing 1.9M and 3.5G’s. Feather oscillations were actively damped by the pilot and the wing was de-feathered starting at 55,000 feet. The onboard avionics was re-booted and a smooth and uneventful landing made to Mojave.

 

'rebooted' ???? must be an MS product that crashed, figures with Paul Allen there

 

Thats way higher than twice the what the concorde does i think (i dobut the concorde cruises at 100k feet, probably more like 30-38). Maybe one day he will be able to break the record set by the X-15 of 67 miles (i think thats 350,000+ ft). I really admire what Rutan is doing.

 

I am left wondering if the flight computers were "civilian" grade computation devices, and whether there was shielding or not.

Due to the radiation from outer space, there are (roughly) twice as many soft errors at 5,000 feet (Denver) as at sea level (New York City), and a rough doubling every verticle mile. Some shileding is necessary even for comercial aircraft (40,000 ft) and entirely different design (down at the circuit level) is required for real space operation (Hubble, Satalites, Space Station).

 

The Concord cruises at 50,000-60,000 ft. Still awsome

 

The Concorde normally cruised in the 50 - 60,000' range, I believe the maximum certificated was around 63,000'. I don't believe anything over 70,000' is even remotely possible under any circumstances.

Gary

 

Can't believe I beat William to it:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/news/062104.htm

"Mojave, CA: A privately-developed rocket plane will launch into history on June 21 on a mission to become the world’s first commercial manned space vehicle. Investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and aviation legend Burt Rutan have teamed to create the program, which will attempt the first non-governmental flight to leave the earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceShipOne will rocket to 100 kilometers (62 miles) into sub-orbital space above the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test Center, a commercial airport in the California desert. If successful, it will demonstrate that the space frontier is finally open to private enterprise. This event could be the breakthrough that will enable space access for future generations."

"Today’s announcement came after SpaceShipOne completed a May 13th, 2004 test flight in which pilot Mike Melvill reached a height of 211,400 feet (approximately 40 miles), the highest altitude ever reached by a non-government aerospace program."

"The pilot (to be announced at a later date) of the up-coming June sub-orbital space flight will become the first person to earn astronaut wings in a non-government sponsored vehicle, and the first private civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere."

Very cool. I might have to make the drive.

Cheers,
Jon