Scaled Composites revealed their passenger-carrying spaceship today. This is an actual, working vehicle they’re planning to use as part of a commercial space program. It would also get them the X Prize once flown. Wow!
For those who don’t know Scaled Composites, it’s an aerospace firm run by Burt Rutan. His plane Voyager was the first to fly around the world without landing or refueling. He’s known for working, low-cost aircraft designed with revolutionary techniques. Go Burt!
Wow! It must be the week of X Prize related announcements. The latest is from XCOR, which successfully tested their new XR-4K5 engine on Monday. It’s just one stage in their plan to go suborbital and win the prize.
OK, the details I promised.
Karen and I decided a while back that we would do adventurous things for our decade birthdays (e.g. 30th, 40th) because it would give us something to look forward to rather than dread.
For Karen’s, she flew a plane and spent a month [not week; sorry K!] on her own in Europe. For mine, it had to be Space Camp, because I’ve wanted to go for years. It’s a one-week immersion into astronaut training, using real (if older) NASA procedures and equipment.
I’m going a few weeks after my birthday, from December 28th to January 2nd. For the Shuttle missions I’ll be trained as a Mission Specialist, mostly because I don’t have the coordination to fly the thing or handle that robot arm. A good solid tech, that’s what they need. ;)
The whole thing sounds exciting, but I’m most intrigued by things like the buoyancy trainer tank, where I get to strap on SCUBA gear (first time ever) and work on space station components in a weightless-like environment. Kind of a poor-man’s Vomit Comet, if you will.
I’m going to read up on Shuttle systems before I go, but otherwise there’s not much to do but count the days until I’m 30. Come on, 30! Oh, and plan for what I’ll do when I turn 40, or perhaps when I turn 50.
I’m goin’ to Space Academy!
Details to follow.
BTW, Mars is getting more and more exciting. I’d love to think of that as an adventure trip for my 50th birthday.
Karen sent a link to an article at Space.com about a bizarre new nova-like star that is expanding and cooling in a way astronomers didn’t expect. At the same time, it’s giving us a show: a light echo, which is light that bounced off larger and larger regions of dust around the star as the star got brighter.
