NASCAR IN THE SKIES IS NEARING ROCKET-POWERED PLANES ON COURSE FOR THE NEXT SPECTATOR SPORT.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer MOJAVE -- Rocket-powered airplanes could start racing next year in a NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. of the skies promoted by the man who created the 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. for encouraging private spacecraft. X Prize Foundation Chairman Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (born 20 May 1961 in Bronx, New York) is considered a key American figure in the development of the personal spaceflight industry, having created many space-related businesses or organizations. and partner Granger Whitelaw's Rocket Racing League The Rocket Racing League is a proposed racing league that would use rocket powered aircraft. The formation of the league was announced by Granger Whitelaw two time Indy 500 winning team owner and Peter Diamandis, founder of the Ansari X-Prize, on October 3, 2005, in partnership races would run at 200 to 250 mph on aerial courses two miles long and a mile wide at 5,000 feet altitude, the planes visible to spectators on the ground from their flaming 20-foot- long exhaust plumes, on giant television screens and maybe even on handheld devices with live video streams from cockpit cameras. ``You see the plane the entire time when it's in the air,'' said Whitelaw, the rocket league's president and chief executive officer. ``You never lose sight of your favorite racer or favorite team.'' Now being completed in Mojave, the first rocket racer is expected to be ready in time for exhibition flights at the space-travel festival called the X Prize Cup Oct. 19-22 in New Mexico, said Diamandis. Diamandis' St. Louis-based foundation in 2004 awarded a $10 million prize to Mojave aerospace designer Burt Rutan and his financial backer, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, for creating the first privately financed, privately built spacecraft. In the racing league, Diamandis and Whitelaw hope to have at least 10 teams competing in a series of races in 2007 and 2008, with semifinals at the Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, also known as the National Championship Air Races, take place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada, USA. Air racing is billed as 'the world's fastest motor sport' and Reno is one of the few remaining venues. in Nevada followed by the finals at the annual X Prize Cup festival in New Mexico. The league is soliciting proposals for race venues, Diamandis said. ``As to where we are, we are making extraordinary progress,'' Diamandis said. The first racers are being produced by a Florida company, Velocity, which is providing the airframes, and Mojave rocket manufacturer XCOR XCOR Cross-Correlation . The design is based on XCOR's EZ-Rocket plane, a highly modified version of the Long-EZ kit plane designed by Burt Rutan in the 1970s. In Mojave, the first racing plane's airframe was recently delivered to XCOR for the installation of its liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled engine. Citing as one of its major achievements, the rocket league announced a marketing agreement with the William Morris Agency Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency is the largest diversified talent and literary agency in the world, with offices in New York City, Beverly Hills, Nashville, Miami, London, and Shanghai. , a major talent agency whose clients also include the National Football League and the National Hockey League National Hockey League (NHL) Organization of professional North American ice-hockey teams. The league was formed in 1917 by five Canadian teams; the first U.S. team, the Boston Bruins, was added in 1924. It today consists of 30 teams in two conferences and six divisions. . The agency will handle TV, video-on-demand, Internet, video game, merchandising and event sponsorship deals. The signing is the first time the agency has agreed to work with an aerospace company, said Whitelaw. ``It's an important development not only for the rocket racing league, but for the entire private space industry,'' Whitelaw said. ``It shows the maturation of the overall space industry.'' Mark Itkin, William Morris's executive vice president for television, said the agency wants to help bring the league to a worldwide audience with ``innovative use of entertainment and marketing platforms.'' Whitelaw and Diamandis anticipate the league aiding the the development of private space travel with innovations in propulsion systems, fuels and fuel-blends, electronic equipment, and other components. ``When you have competitive racing, it drives innovation,'' Whitelaw said. james.skeen(at)dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion