One-man version of SpaceShipOne may be next stage in development of
space holidays

Pasted from:
http://www.flightinternational.com/f...86036&Code=106

A one-person version of Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne that reaches an
orbit of 130km (81 miles) to rendezvous with an orbiting hotel may form
the next stage of Burt Rutan's private manned spaceflight plans.

Speaking at a lecture organised by the Manx Festival of Aviation at the
Royal Aeronautical Society in London, the aerospace designer detailed
how such an orbital vehicle could be evolved from his existing
three-man, suborbital 3,000kg (6,600lb) SpaceShipOne. The amount of
spacecraft mass dedicated to fuel would be increased to achieve the
greater altitude and speed required.

"We'd have a small cramped cabin for the orbital flight and you'd be in
it for a long time. You'd want to go to a hotel [because of that] and
for orbital tourism you'd want an altitude of 130km," says Rutan.

In his lecture, Rutan referred to plans by Robert Bigelow, founder of
Bigelow Aerospace, to develop a space hotel based on NASA-originated
inflatable habitat technology.

Before Rutan begins work on orbital flight technology, he will attempt
to win the X-Prize, which requires two suborbital flights within two
weeks carrying a mass equivalent to three people. Rutan's first flight
is scheduled for 29 September and his second for 4 October. But before
he flies for the second time, competing Canadian X-Prize team da Vinci
Project is scheduled to try to reach space in its Wild Fire rocket on 2
October.

Another X-Prize team, Space Transportation, saw its Rubicon One rocket
fail a flight test in Washington on 8 August seconds after launch. The
engines of the $20,000 rocket failed after it reached an altitude of
1,000ft (305m). Rubicon One's remains crashed to Earth 61m from its
launch site after its parachute system failed. It was carrying three
dummies representing the pilot and passengers.