NASA TEAMING UP WITH RUTAN.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - Burt Rutan's White Knight White Knight falls off his horse every time it stops. [Br. Lit.: Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass] See : Awkwardness White Knight invents clever objects that never work. [Br. Lit. , the spindly spin·dly adj. spin·dli·er, spin·dli·est Slender and elongated, especially in a way that suggests weakness. spindly Adjective [-dlier, -dliest mother ship that launched the first privately developed manned spaceflight, will be used for the flight tests of NASA's X-37 test craft. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), had planned to use a modified B-52H bomber as the mother ship for the tests, but a new, yet-to-be-identified customer opted for the Rutan aircraft, officials said. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. officials said they could only confirm the change of the launch vehicle and cannot release any details about the new customer at this point. Designed and built by Rutan's Scaled Composites company in Mojave, the turbojet turbojet: see turbine. turbojet Jet engine in which a turbine-driven compressor draws in and compresses air, forcing it into a combustion chamber into which fuel is injected. White Knight will be used to carry the unmanned X-37 aloft for a series of approach and landing tests in early 2005. The X-37 is designed to test advanced materials and control systems for future spacecraft. The X-37 is being assembled in Palmdale by Boeing's Phantom Works division. On June 21, the White Knight served as the first stage of the first privately funded, privately developed manned spaceflight when it carried Rutan's SpaceShipOne to an altitude of 47,000 feet and released it. SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike Melvill, then rocketed to an altitude of just over 62 miles. The White Knight, a twin-boom design turbojet aircraft, is scheduled to take SpaceShipOne aloft again Sept. 29 for another spaceflight. The SpaceShipOne team will attempt to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize The Ansari X PRIZE was a space competition in which the X PRIZE Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. , which will go to the first team to conduct two manned spaceflights within a two-week period. The X-37 initially was funded under a 1999 $173 million contract, with the costs being shared by NASA, Boeing and the Air Force. The Air Force later dropped out of the program. Work on the experimental aircraft continued under a $301 million contract to support the now-canceled orbital space plane The Orbital Space Plane (OSP) program was designed to support the International Space Station requirements for crew rescue, crew transport and contingency cargo such as supplies, food and other needed equipment. , an effort to develop a manned spacecraft to augment the space shuttle fleet. The X-37 is designed at advancing a number of technologies that could be used in future spacecraft, including new thermal protection systems, composite materials and advanced navigation and control systems. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 James.skeen(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: NASA's X-37 spacecraft, pictured here, will be borne aloft by Burt Rutan's White Knight. |
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