Burt Rutan Rolls Out His New Spaceship

I've always followed Burt Rutan's career with interest since we went to the same college (Cal Poly SLO) at about the same time. (His Scaled Composites company also shares the same desert airfield with my favorite CA-approved school, NTPS.)

Anyway, Rutan rolled out his new spaceship yesterday, that he has been developing in secret out there in the Mojave desert:

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/rutan_scaled_0304187.html

Here's a couple of photos. Buzz Aldrin who was present at the rollout calls it "outside the box thinking". Others might call it an LSD overdose. But it ain't your grandfather's 747, that's for sure:

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=scaled_spaceshipone_02.jpg

The upper image shows the mother and daughter vehicles separate, the lower image shows them mated. The mother flies like a (sorta)conventional aircraft to 60,000 feet, where it releases its daugher with three astronauts crammed inside who ignite its rocket engine.

What fuels that rocket engine? Laughing gas and tire rubber!!!

It's true! Here's a rocket engine test:

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=h_scaled_T1Firing_02.jpg

Here's the company website with lots more photos, specs and a FAQ (the window thing: they are small and round for mechanical loading and cost reasons, so there have to be lots of them so that you can see where you're going. They also explain how you can land with all those wheels and why its powered by laughing gas.)

http://www.scaled.com/

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! I love it.

 

For those with an interest in do-it-yourself space travel, here's a progress report.

The May 26 'Aviation Week and Space Technology' reports that on May 20 Burt Rutan's White Knight mothership made its first captive-carry test flight with the SpaceShipOne rocket attached to its belly.

The mothership was flown by two test pilots while the spaceship was empty with controls locked, ballasted with the weight of one astronaut. The flight lasted 1 hr. 45 min. and was flown from Mojave Airport. The test reached the expected drop point of 50,000 feet, was "solid as a rock" and didn't reveal any anomalies.

The spaceship has since undergone ground vibration tests, and when those are analyzed, the second test flight will take place. That will be a captive carry flight with a pilot in the spaceship, operating the controls and trim, and measuring the forces on them.

Then there will be two unpowered drop tests, the first a simple glide back to Mojave airport, the second to test the speed brakes intended for re-entry.

Then several powered drop tests where the spaceship's rocket will be proved in short burns.

Finally a manned trip into space, hopefully by the end of this year. The actual ascent will take place above Edwards Air Force Base, but the takeoff and landing will be from Mojave airport, the first time in history a manned spaceflight has been launched and recovered from a civilian airport.

Let alone the first time that a low-cost, low-tech manned spaceflight has been undertaken by civilians without government conections and with equipment they built themselves. Rutan estimates that it will cost about $80,000 per flight to operate it. Space-tourists could pay that, except unfortunately the cost of getting a spaceship FAA certified to carry paying passangers would probably be prohibitive.



http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_awst_story.jsp?id=news/04213top.xml

 

Thanks for the update. I've been keeping up with the X-Prize with much interest for awhile now. Popular Science sometimes has a little information about it too.

Cy

 

This do-it-yourself space program is the subject of the cover story in the July issue of 'Wired Magazine', which should be hitting the news stands as we speak. 12 pages, lots of photos.

Target date to launch is the Wright Brothers Centennial, December 3.

 

I strongly suspect that this is code for saying that the flights will be based somewhere outside the U.S.

 

It really would be the only way that any money could be made with such a venture. The FAA requires an incredibly lengthy and costly certification process just to certify a new single-engine 4-place airplane.

Cy

 

And, of course, they did go into this with the intention of making money.

Many of the early "X Prize" entries (about 5-6 years ago) were going to be launched from international waters. I believe there was one that would be launched from a big barge, one from an abandonded oil drilling platform (!), and my favorite, a big rocket that would actually float upright and take off without any platform at all. Of course, these were all rocket-type solutions, and the international waters thing would not be feasible for a space plane.

 

Do-It-Yourself Space Travel Update: First Powered Test Flight

Despite some setbacks, California's do-it-yourself space explorers are moving right along.

Here's a very striking futuristic view of the spacecraft mated to its mother plane (which strangely resembles a Klingon Bird of Prey) making a low pass over the Mojave Airport facility with a windmill farm in the background:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/800/cap_car_wind_800.jpg

Stability problems with the spacecraft tail were detected in unpowered drop tests over the Mojave desert, making some redesign work necessary. (That's why they have test pilots.) So the schedule slipped.

Rutan doesn't use wind tunnels. He uses a sophisticated computational fluid dynamics computer model to virtually design aircraft. But the tail problem necessitated some empirical experiments. Here's their "wind tunnel" to test new tail ideas: A Ford pickup truck with model tails mounted on it:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/800/wind_tunnel_800.jpg

Not exactly high technology! (But it worked.) Can you imagine NASA doing that????? A pickup truck and a few weeks? NASA is so afraid of the political repurcussions of failure that they would have spent 24 billion dollars and 14 years studying the problem.

The tail is all fixed now.

The first powered flight test took place December 17. The rocket engine burn was only for 39 seconds (intended to prove the rocket engine start and trans-sonic handling) but the sound barrier was exceeded in almost vertical 3g ascent. Release was 44,400 feet, apogee was 67,800 feet (12.84 miles). That's only a small fraction of its ultimate design altitude.

Check out this photo of it screaming towards the heavens:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/800/316_first_burn_800.jpg

Is that cool or what????

Here's a shot from a camera on the tail boom positioned to image the rocket engine exhaust plume during powered ascent:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/video/for_dave.jpg

Unfortunately, some rather serious landing gear damage was suffered upon landing that will necessitate repairs, and more delays.

But it's gonna happen later this year: The first do-it-yourself astronauts to reach space in a spaceship they designed and built themselves, without government assistance.

Lots more information is available on the company website:

http://www.scaled.com

 

Re: Do-It-Yourself Space Travel Update: First Powered Test Flight

.............Here's their "wind tunnel" to test new tail ideas: A Ford pickup truck with model tails mounted on it:...........
Not exactly high technology! (But it worked.) Can you imagine NASA doing that?????


Yes I can. NASA did truck tests on the X-38 program at DFRC to test parachutes.

 

Re: Re: Do-It-Yourself Space Travel Update: First Powered Test Flight

See http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/X-38/HTML/EC96-43844-4.html

 

Second Powered Test Flight

Burt Rutan's do-it-yourself spaceship made it's second powered test flight on April 8, 2004.

(Here's) the report from the company website:

Launch conditions were 45,600 feet and 125knots. A planned immediate motor ignition was delayed about 2 minutes to evaluate a shock induced stall buffet resulting in an ignition altitude of only 38,300 feet. The 40 second rocket boost was smooth with good control. Pilot commented that the motor was surprisingly quiet; however the boost was heard by ground observers. Burnout occurred at 1.6M and apogee was over 105,000 feet. There was no noted flight control flutter or buzz during the climb. Feather recovery was nominal. Maximum feathered speed on entry was 0.9 Mach. The wing was de-feathered and locked by 40,000 feet. Handling quality assessments during descent were satisfactory and a smooth landing made to runway 30 at Mojave. All video and tracking systems performed well with spectacular footage obtained onboard, from chase and from ground stations.

(Here's) a photo taken after engine shutdown by a video camera on the right tail boom, showing a reaction control thruster firing on the top of the left wing.

(Here's) a rather striking shot taken near apogee, showing how the tail swings upward, allowing the craft to assume it's belly-first re-entry attitude.

(Heres) a photo take soon after engine ignition from one of the chase planes (an Alphajet).

(Here's) a photograph of boost phase taken by a ground based telescope at nearby Edwards Air Force Base.

 

I love Amtrak...

 

Altitude

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/05/13/private.space.ship/index.html

The White Knight and SpaceShipOne have completed another successful test - 212,000 ft.

 

Some photos of the third powered test flight were posted to the company website today.

Here's the craft at apogee. My untrained eye interprets the dark area under the engine nozzle as the San Gabriel mountains, with Los Angeles immediately beyond. I'm guessing that the San Fernando valley is under the left wing, while the Orange county coast to the upper left seems to be experiencing some coastal fog. Edwards AFB immediately below in the Mojave desert.

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/video/14p_1b.jpg

Interior shot near apogee. Note the bright sunlight illuminating the left hand windows and the black sky through through those on the right and directly in front of the pilot. The white spot above his head seems to be light projected from one of the left hand windows.

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/video/14p_apogee.jpg

The details are posted here:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/flight_data/flt_data.htm

 

Private spacecraft blast offs June 21

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/02/private.space/index.html

Has anybody seen what they will be using for life support equipment?

 

Re: Private spacecraft blast offs June 21

Aviation Week & Space Technology says that the cabin will be pressurized to 6,000 ft and maintained from air bottles (for emergency there will be oxygen masks) together with a CO2 scrubber. A 3-man crew has conducted a 3-hour test of the system. In an emergency the crew can open a hatch and bail out (I assume they will wait until they get to under 50,000 ft). Pressure suits will not be worn. Temperature in the cabin will be within +/- 30 degree F of room temperature.

 

Re: Private spacecraft blast offs June 21

Hi Airtorn. Thanks for the exciting news. (I can't help it, I find this whole project outrageously cool.)

The company has posted the announcement on its website:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/news/062104.htm

(There are photos and a FAQ as well.)

Not much. This is pretty bare-bones.

To add to Ian's fine summary, here's a complete description (although about a year old) from 'Aviation Week and Space Technology':

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_awst_story.jsp?id=news/04213top.xml

Relevant excerpts:

"The cabin is sealed, with a pressure relief valve. Rutan expects it will be maintained at about 6,000 ft. with a little flow from the air bottles to offset about 100-fpm. leakage. This is done by hand, watching a cabin altimeter. A "Sodasorb" carbon dioxide scrubber is used, though it may not be necessary for short flights, and no makeup oxygen is required. A three-man crew has done a 3-hr. test in the sealed cabin.

The crew will not wear pressure suits--Rutan believes the overbuilt structure of the cabin provides the same safety backup as a spacesuit. There are oxygen bottles and masks for emergency use. While carried under the White Knight, cabin heat comes from engine bleed air directed at the outside of the aft pressure bulkhead. Otherwise temperature is free to vary--the sidewalls are insulated and engineers expect it will remain within ± 20-30F of room temperature....

The 16 9-in. windows are double-paned with a 1/4-in. gap. The outer panes are 5/16-in. Lexan polycarbonate to withstand heat, and the inner panes are 5/16-in. Plexiglas. The outer panes have several small holes, putting all the pressurization on the cooler-running Plexiglas, which deflects 0.2 in. under load.

The biggest environmental problem seen on White Knight's similar cabin has been humidity that fogs the windows, coming from the crew's breath and sweat. Ice forms on cold parts like the front hatch ring. While most of the mission can be flown on instruments, landing requires a good view out the windows. Attempts to combat fog include running air through a "13X" desiccant, flowing bottled dry air through the window pane gap and overboard via the outer holes, directing electric heat at them, using peel-off films of plastic and wiping with a cloth. The problem still isn't completely solved, said Douglas B. Shane, Tier One director of flight operations. It may be that reentry heating will automatically defog the SpaceShipOne windows. Some windows were moved back from the nose to avoid high heat...."

Here's a photo of the spacecraft interior near apogee during the last powered test flight. Apparently the window fogging problem has been successfully managed:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/photos/images/video/14p_apogee.jpg

The photo also shows how minimal the instruments are. Everything seems to be concentrated in the small display in front of the pilot. Significantly, that flight director display reportedly crashed during ascent on the last test flight (the picture shows a blank screen) and the pilot flew the mission successfully without no stinkin' instruments, referencing the external horizon to maintain attitude.

 

I totally agree. You are absolutely 100% correct. Anyone who does not agree must be a mill shill.

 

Space Attempt Scheduled for Monday June 21

Just a reminder that Rutan's do-it-yourself manned space shot is scheduled for this coming Monday, June 21.

If everything goes as planned, the thing will roll out at 6:30 AM PDT (9:30 AM Eastern).

Latest word is that CNN plans to televise it.

Scaled.com has redesigned their project webpage, gathering together all kinds of information, faqs, photos, diagrams, specs, test reports and stuff.

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm

You have just gotta love this... the little guys finally make it into space. Check out their Mission Control Center:

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/data_sheets/html/mission_control.htm

Eat your heart out, NASA!

The beauty of this is that it shows that private individuals can still do extraordinary things with limited resources. All it takes is a little vision and nerve. It reminds me of the aviation adventurers of a century ago, the "daring aviators" with their crazy experimental flying machines.

 

This was a large article + large picture on page 1 of the Fresno Bee today. Turns out Mr. Rutan is a local boy. Grew up just down the road in Dinuba. My wife informs me today that he probably built rockets with her cousins (one of whom now works for NASA).




Tom Nixon