ROCKET RACING TO SPUR SPACE INTEREST ANSARI X PRIZE FOUNDER STARTING LEAGUE.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - 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. , founder of 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. , has a new venture he hopes will spur interest in space technology - a rocket plane rocket plane n. 1. An aircraft powered by one or more rocket engines. 2. An aircraft designed to carry and launch rockets. racing league. Diamandis, who created the $10 million Ansari X Prize awarded last year to the SpaceShipOne team for the first private manned spaceflights, said his new 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 will join together entertainment with the pursuit of space technology. ``We are taking 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. into the space age,'' Diamandis said. Plans call for holding the first race next fall in New Mexico at the X Prize Cup, a space expo event Diamandis is starting up. From there, the league envisions a series of races each year with semifinals being held 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 X Prize Cup. Diamandis said there is a possibility of one of the race venues being Mojave. Pilots of the rocket planes planned for the competitions will have the ability to shut down and restart engines during flight. It is expected that each plane will have about four minutes of rocket engine burn time and eight minutes of glide time. ``The challenge for the pilot will be to decide when to use the burn time,'' Diamandis said. The planes will be able to be refueled in five to eight minutes. ``You're looking at doing a pit stop and going again,'' Diamandis said. The league has landed two notable pilots - former astronaut Rick Searfoss, a Tehachapi resident, and Erik Lindbergh, a commercial glider and test pilot and grandson of Charles Lindbergh. Searfoss is serving as the league's chief test pilot while Lindbergh plans to be one of the pilots in the inaugural race. ``Erik's intrepid spirit and superior piloting skills will thrill RRL fans and advance our mission to reignite Verb 1. reignite - ignite anew, as of something burning; "The strong winds reignited the cooling embers" ignite, light - cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat; "Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter"; "Light a cigarette" the public's interest in flight and space,'' said Granger Whitelaw, the league's president and co-founder. The league has contracted with XCOR Aerospace of Mojave and Velocity, a Sebastian, Fla., company, to design and build the first racing planes. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. XCOR XCOR Cross-Correlation will base the design of the first racers on its EZ-Rocket plane, a Long-EZ experimental aircraft modified to carry two rocket engines. XCOR will build the racers with airframes provided by Velocity. While the racers will be based on the EZ-Rocket design, there will be differences. Instead of EZ-Rocket's two alcohol and liquid oxygen-fueled engines, each racer will be powered by a single engine fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene kerosene or kerosine, colorless, thin mineral oil whose density is between 0.75 and 0.85 grams per cubic centimeter. A mixture of hydrocarbons, it is commonly obtained in the fractional distillation of petroleum as the portion boiling off . That fuel will create a bright, 20-foot-long plume that will be visible to onlookers on the ground, Diamandis said. The EZ-Rocket has a top speed of about 225 mph; the racers will hit speeds of 320 mph. Race courses will probably be two miles long and one mile wide at an altitude of about 5,000 feet. Each pilot will have an individual three-dimensional ``track'' in order to avoid collisions, league organizers said. Race organizers envision spectators tracking the progress of the racers by viewing each plane's bright engine flame and by watching large screen televisions. Organizers also envision having spectators watch the races with handheld devices with live video streams from cockpit cameras. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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