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Credit & Copyright: Scaled Composites
Explanation:
Slung below its equally innovative mothership
dubbed White Knight,
SpaceShipOne
rides above planet Earth,
photographed during a recent flight test.
SpaceShipOne was designed and built by cutting-edge aeronautical
engineer Burt
Rutan and his company Scaled Composites to compete for
the X Prize.
The 10 million dollar X prize is open to private companies and requires
the successful launch of a spaceship which carries three people
on short sub-orbital flights
to an altitude of 100 kilometers -- a
scenario similar to the early manned
spaceflights of
NASA's Mercury Program.
Unlike more conventional
rocket flights to space,
SpaceShipOne will first be
carried to an altitude of 50,000 feet
by the twin turbojet White Knight and then released before
igniting its own
hybrid
solid fuel rocket engine.
After the climb to space,
the craft will convert to a stable high drag
configuration for re-entry, ultimately landing like a
conventional glider at light plane speeds.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: X-prize - spacecraft
Publications with words: X-prize - spacecraft
See also: