Outer space on the cheap.On June 21, a rocket-powered airplane airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight through the dynamic action of the air. known as SpaceShipOne soared 100 kilometers above Earth to the fringes of space, carrying out the first-ever private, manned space mission. The flight was a milestone for privately funded efforts to develop low-cost space technology. Before its self-powered ascent, the three-seater SpaceShipOne was lofted to about 14 km altitude by a larger plane designed for the purpose. That's a few kilometers higher than a typical cruising altitude A level determined by vertical measurement from mean sea level, maintained during a flight or portion thereof. for an airliner. Compared with a ground launch, such a midaltitude send-off slashes the power and fuel required to get a vehicle into space, says Matthew Gionta, chief engineer of Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled), formerly the Rutan Aircraft Factory, is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States and is headed by aircraft designer Burt Rutan. , the Mojave, Calif., company that built and flew SpaceShipOne. This flight strategy was but one of many ways that SpaceShipOne's designers cut expenses, which still amounted to about $ 20 million. "You'd be amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. at how low-technology [the spacecraft spacecraft Vehicle designed to operate, with or without a crew, in a controlled flight pattern above Earth's lower atmosphere. Since streamlining is not needed in the high vacuum of this environment, a spacecraft's shape is designed according to its mission (see ] is," Gionta says. Sealed Composites next plans to compete for a $10 million purse called the X-prize that has been offered by a St. Louis-based foundation to the first team that flies a privately funded, three-seater spacecraft twice to space and back within a 2-week period. A long-term goal is to start an era of affordable space tourism.--P.W. |
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