SS1 flight set for June 21

"Herb Schaltegger" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Joe Strout wrote:

In article ,
Joe Strout wrote:

Hot damn! The X-Prize will be won in less than three weeks. This
will
be a historic occasion.

Correction: they won't be quite winning the X-Prize on June 21; to do
that, they have to fly twice in two weeks. But I think we're all agreed
that this will be pretty much a formality after the 100 km flight.

Best,
- Joe


Actually, no. They have to do it with triple the payload: three people,
not just one pilot. And they have to do it again within two weeks, not
a month or two (or three) between each flight.

No, they have to do it with the MASS of 3 people, but it only requires one
actual person.



--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
Reformed Aerospace Engineer
Columbia Loss FAQ:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
Actually, no. They have to do it with triple the payload: three people,
not just one pilot. And they have to do it again within two weeks, not
a month or two (or three) between each flight.

Nope. They only have to demonstrate the payload and
volume, they need only one person to actually make the
flights. They can do a "how many people can fit in
the phonebooth" ground test and carry sand bags to 100 km.

In article ,
"Christopher M. Jones" wrote:

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
Actually, no. They have to do it with triple the payload: three people,
not just one pilot. And they have to do it again within two weeks, not
a month or two (or three) between each flight.

Nope. They only have to demonstrate the payload and
volume, they need only one person to actually make the
flights. They can do a "how many people can fit in
the phonebooth" ground test and carry sand bags to 100 km.

An excellent example of form-over-substance in the mission requirements
if I've ever heard one. That gets a definite "Harrrrrrumph!" from me.
Has Scaled been ballasting their test flights so far? I haven't seen
anything too technical in their press releases.

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
Reformed Aerospace Engineer
Columbia Loss FAQ:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

In article ,
"Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)" wrote:

"Herb Schaltegger" wrote in message
...

Actually, no. They have to do it with triple the payload: three people,
not just one pilot. And they have to do it again within two weeks, not
a month or two (or three) between each flight.

No, they have to do it with the MASS of 3 people, but it only requires one
actual person.


As I pointed out in response to Christopher Jones, that's an example of
form-over-substance.

If you're going to water down the requirements so far, why bother with
one person at all? Why not just track down Ham's great-grandkid and let
him or her duplicate the flight of his ancestor? Bah.

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
Reformed Aerospace Engineer
Columbia Loss FAQ:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Joe Strout wrote:
In article ,
Hop David wrote:


http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...te_040602.html


Hot damn! The X-Prize will be won in less than three weeks. This will
be a historic occasion.

More details (from spacetoday.net):

"SpaceShipOne... will fly into space for the first time on Monday, June
21, the company announced Wednesday. SpaceShipOne will fly to an
altitude of at least 100 kilometers, a widely-accepted boundary of
space, on the flight. ... The pilot of SpaceShipOne on this flight will
be announced at a later date; Brian Binnie and Mike Melvill have both
flown SpaceShipOne on powered test flights previously. ... Wednesday's
announcement is a break in the tight veil of secrecy that has surrounded
the program during its development and previous test flights, which have
not been previously announced to the public. Scaled said the public will
be invited to witness this flight."

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'
From the Scaled Composites announcement:

"Based on the success of the June space flight attempt, SpaceShipOne
will later compete for the Ansari X Prize, an international competition
to create a reusable aircraft that can launch three passengers into
sub-orbital space, return them safely home, then repeat the launch
within two weeks with the same vehicle."

This is not an X-Prize flight. That will come later. Further, the
X-Prize requires 30 days advanced notice, not 21 days, or rather about
19 days. And the X-Prize committee has stated recently that they expect
60 days notice, so that puts the first flight at no earlier than August
21, based on an announcement on June 21, right after the test flight.

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 19:37:34 -0500, Herb Schaltegger wrote:

In article ,
"Christopher M. Jones" wrote:

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
Actually, no. They have to do it with triple the payload: three people,
not just one pilot. And they have to do it again within two weeks, not
a month or two (or three) between each flight.

Nope. They only have to demonstrate the payload and
volume, they need only one person to actually make the
flights. They can do a "how many people can fit in
the phonebooth" ground test and carry sand bags to 100 km.

An excellent example of form-over-substance in the mission requirements
if I've ever heard one. That gets a definite "Harrrrrrumph!" from me.
Has Scaled been ballasting their test flights so far? I haven't seen
anything too technical in their press releases.

You're being too harsh. Why should we risk three people on an experimental
vehicle when we can risk one and the ballast equivalent of the other two?
Sounds prudent to me and not just a matter of "form-over-substance".


Karl Hallowell

Andi Kleen wrote:


They would need to carry dummies for two other people for it
to be a valid X prize flight. The press release didn't say if they
would or not.


Instead of _two_ people...how about _four_ cute, personality-filled.....

Pat Flannery
CEO, Space Monkey Supply Services
921, Jane Goodall Avenue
Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso
Africa

Herb Schaltegger wrote:


An excellent example of form-over-substance in the mission requirements
if I've ever heard one. That gets a definite "Harrrrrrumph!" from me.
Has Scaled been ballasting their test flights so far? I haven't seen
anything too technical in their press releases.


They'd almost have to have been to keep the CG in the right place for
the return glide.

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote:

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
An excellent example of form-over-substance in the mission
requirements if I've ever heard one. That gets a definite
"Harrrrrrumph!" from me. Has Scaled been ballasting their test
flights so far? I haven't seen anything too technical in their press
releases.

They'd almost have to have been to keep the CG in the right place for
the return glide.

Especially considering the use of the hybrid rocket,
unless they do some REALLY tricky things with where
they put their oxidizer.

Herb Schaltegger wrote:



If you're going to water down the requirements so far, why bother with
one person at all? Why not just track down Ham's great-grandkid and let
him or her duplicate the flight of his ancestor? Bah.


As you can see, all great minds think alike...and Pat's Space Monkey
Supply Services is ready to meet your Space Simian needs 24/7! Monkeys
of all sizes, sexes, colors, and temperaments- you show us a rocket, and
we'll show you a monkey that will fit it! Be it Gibbon or Gorilla,
Squirrel or Spider, Baboon or Barbary Ape, we're the boys you're looking
for....why launch a man when you can launch a Mandrill with half the
funds.....and have double the fun?
They're _all_ cute... and once we start encouraging them to board your
rocket with our electric monkey prods, they will all become
personality-filled to a degree that will truly surprise you! :-)
Pat