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ANSARI X PRIZE NEWSLETTER : May 28, 2004
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IN THIS ISSUE:
TOP NEWS
TEAM NEWS
OTHER NEWS
Dear ANSARI X PRIZE Supporters-
The race is heating up. Over 10 different
teams are building and testing full-scale hardware and engines.
After eight years of work, a new generation of private vehicles designed to carry the rest of us into space is now taking shape.
Please support our efforts: Tell your friends, visit our site, join as a $20 member, and stay-tuned to help launch a renaissance of spaceflight.
On behalf of the entire X PRIZE team, thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Peter H. Diamandis
Chairman, X PRIZE
TOP NEWS
ANSARI FAMILY'S BECOMES TITLE SPONSOR OF X PRIZE. COMPETITION NAME CHANGED TO ANSARI X PRIZE
The X PRIZE Foundation is pleased to thank
entrepreneurs Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari for their generous
donation
in 2001 which enabled the Foundation to fund the purse.
In celebration of that donation, the Foundation has renamed the
$10M race to become the ANSARI X PRIZE Competition. This
announcement was made on May 5th, 2004, the 43rd anniversary
of astronaut Alan Shepard's suborbital flight into space.
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DONATIONS
The mission of the non-profit X PRIZE Foundation is to create a future in which the general public will personally participate in space travel and its benefits. But all of this requires an investment. Be a part of history. Give to the ANSARI X PRIZE.
CLICK HERE to Become a General Member for the low cost of $20
CLICK HERE to Become a Senior Associate.
CLICK HERE to help the X PRIZE Foundation via a secure donation to PayPal!
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TEAM NEWS
SCALED COMPOSITES
 The American Scaled
Composites team lead by Burt Rutan took another bold step towards
space by launching SpaceShipOne
to record altitudes on May 13th.
After riding "captive" to the White Knight carrier ship to about
45,000 feet, test pilot Mike
Melville fired the hybrid rocket
engine and pointed SpaceShipOne skyward. After a 55 second burn, he
reached a speed of
Mach 2.5 and coasted to an apogee of 211,400
feet, doubling the height reached on the previous flight test in
April. "I would
give a million dollars to do it again," said
Melville, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Watching the blue sky
go completely
black was the highlight of my career." Scaled Composites Web Site.
STARCHASER
 The British Starchaser team
is now building the Churchill Mark 3 liquid propellant rocket engine
that will be used to power the
Starchaser 5 launch vehicle on
its suborbital journey into space. The new engine, powered by liquid
oxygen and kerosene, is
designed to deliver some 15 tonnes of
usable thrust for a burn time of up to 70 seconds. The Mark 3 engine
will build upon the
extensive experience gained from the
earlier, smaller Mark 1 and Mark 2 engines. The Churchill family of
rocket engines has
been developed in house at Starchaser with
component manufacture being sub-contracted to various specialist
machining
companies within the UK. Starchaser has also continued
work on its launch escape system (LES). According to the company,
"the LES is now looking more like the finished design...[and]
the test thruster for the LES system has finished its first ro! und
of tests." Starchaser Web Site.
DA VINCI
The Da Vinci Project moves closer
to launch with a successful test of the balloon system that will be
used to carry its Wild Fire
rocket to launch altitude. The goal
of this test was twofold: first, to build the Ground Operation's
team confidence and second,
to get accustomed to the Balloon
Launch Director's needs. The Toronto-based team Da Vinci expects to
make a public practice
launch around mid-June, although with a
balloon smaller than their Ansari X PRIZE version, to help add
experience for the
anticipated rolling launch process of their
ANSARI X PRIZE attempts. It is around this time that the Team
expects to have its
public display "rollout" of the rocket vehicle Wild Fire. Da Vinci Web Site.
ARCA
 The Romanian Team ARCA
announces that it has begun construction of its full-sized ORIZONT
vehicle. The team's plans call
for unveiling the ORIZONT at the
upcoming launch of its "Demonstrator" scaled rocket, followed by a
tour of cities in Romania
as part of the team's public relations
efforts. Other news, according to Team Leader Dumitru Popescu, is
that ARCA has
"succeeded in obtaining a new shipment of 70%
hydrogen peroxide from a sponsor. This higher concentration of
hydrogen
peroxide will be used on the ORIZONT vehicle, as well as on the Demonstrator scaled rocket." ARCA Web Site.
CANDIAN ARROW
In May, the Canadian Arrow team
announced that it will begin unmanned test flights of its rocket
this summer. The flights,
taking place over a period of four
months beginning in August, will test the Arrow's launchpad
abortsystem ande scapesystems.
This testing willbe essential
before any manned launches are attempted.
The tests will include
alaunch pad abort test , separation of the nosecone from the crew
cabin , deployment of parachutes for
safe recovery of the nose
cone and crew cabin , Testing of aerodynamics, and a mach 1 abort
and high altitude abort.
The application for permission to fly is currently being processed. The Canadian Arrow will also fly its first XPOD experiment, produced by students at the Canadian Arrow Science Club at John Dearness SchoolinLondon.
ARMADILLO AEROSPACE
 Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace has successfully tested out a new system for steering its ANSARI X PRIZE vehicle: jet vanes to deflect the exhaust from the engine. The computer controlled jet vanes allowed a small test vehicle, equipped with hydrogen peroxide engines, to hover virtually motionless above the ground for several seconds. Team leader John Carmack believes the new system "is so superior to the differential throttling or attitude engine systems we have used before that we feel it is a clear winner... Overall, I am very proud of this work, [as] we went from concept to highly successful flight test in just over one month." Team Armadillo is currently refitting the jet vane system to a larger test vehicle, which they intend to fly in the coming weeks. Armadillo Web Site.
TGV
 TGV continues working diligently towards their goal of developing a profitable vertical takeoff/vertical landing rocketship, the "MICHELLE-B". Since their recent relocation to Norman, Oklahoma, TGV has put together a technical team with over 200 years of aerospace experience among the group. According to team leader and TGV CEO Pat Bahn, "We continue working with a marvelous group of subcontractors, partners, stakeholders and customers in preparing to bend metal and make noise. We would love to meet anyone who will be attending the National Space Society's International Space Development Society's ISDC event in Oklahoma city over the Memorial Day weekend." TGV Web Site.
ADVENT LAUNCH SYSTEMS
Advent Launch Services is in the process of recovering from the fire they experienced at the test site just over a year ago. The propulsion system was not seriously damaged and is now reassembled for test operations.
Reconstruction of the vehicle structure and flight controls will follow. According to Team Leader Jim Akkerman, "Hopefully we will be doing engine tuneup runs in the next couple of months. We plan to keep all cryogenic servicing lines well away from the engine plume this time!"
Advent Launch Systems Info.
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DONATIONS
The mission of the non-profit X PRIZE Foundation is to create a future in which the general public will personally participate in space travel and its benefits. But all of this requires an investment. Be a part of history. Give to the ANSARI X PRIZE.
CLICK HERE to Become a General Member for the low cost of $20
CLICK HERE to Become a Senior Associate.
CLICK HERE to help the X PRIZE Foundation via a secure donation to PayPal!
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OTHER NEWS
X PRIZE CUP
 On May 11, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced that New Mexico has officially won its bid to host the X PRIZE CUP. The X PRIZE CUP will be an annual, two-week exhibition of X PRIZE class vehicles, competing for cash prizes in an annual race that is intended to be in the spirit of CHAMP CAR and the America's Cup. "Teams and their fans from around the world will gather annually in New Mexico to participate in the competition for the X PRIZE CUP. This event will underpin the evolution of a new era in space...enabling the public to become part of the visionary efforts to open the space frontier," said Peter Mitchell, Director of New Mexico's Office of Space Commercialization. An X PRIZE CUP exhibition is planned for the summer of 2005 and the competition is expected to begin in the summer of 2006.
ESTES LAUNCHES ANSARI X PRIZE MODEL ROCKET COLLECTION
Estes Industries, the world leader in model rocketry, recently announced the creation of a line of flyable scaled models of ANSARI X PRIZE ships at the NATIONAL RETAIL HOBBY STORES ASSOCIATION convention in Las Vegas in mid-May. In his presentation about the ANSARI X PRIZE competition at this hobby industry gathering, X PRIZE Chairman Dr. Peter Diamandis recognized "the value of models in getting young people interested in rockets and space exploration". Gregg Maryniak, X PRIZE Executive Director, noted that "All of us at X PRIZE Foundation--and most of our registered team members--built Estes rockets during our careers. It's a pleasure to have Estes as a new education partner." Estes also plans a line of collectible die-casts to complement the flying models, and has devoted the Company's entire line of new models for the coming year to the ANSA!
RI X PRIZE teams. Watch for further information at www.estesrockets.com
AMATEUR ROCKET REACHES SPACE
"A team of rocketeers led by a Bloomington, Minn., man has claimed success in their goal of launching the first amateur rocket into space, sending a 21-foot rocket an estimated 70 miles above the Nevada desert," according to the Associated Press. The GoFast rocket, launched by the Civilian Space Exploration Team, broke the official 100 km boundary of space in its historic flight. This is the same height that the ANSARI X PRIZE vehicles will have to reach, although the GoFast rocket was not manned.
VANGUARD ANOUNCES NEW TEAM MEMBER
Steve McGrath, Team Leader, recently added Luke Colby to the Vanguard Team as a Propulsion Engineer. With eight years of experience in high power rocketry and solid propulsion, Luke holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University. While at BU, he founded the University's Rocket Team, which has done notable work with solid propellant motors and Aerospike nozzles. Currently a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Luke is also a recipient of the Pratt and Whitney Award for Outstanding Senior Design Project, which he won for his team's Sub-Orbital Rocket Plane design.
Best Wishes and Happy Memorial Day!
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis
Chairman/CEO
Mr. Gregg E. Maryniak
Executive Director
Mr. David Treinis
Executive Vice President for Team Relations
Angel Panlasigui
Newsletter Editor
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DONATIONS
The mission of the non-profit X PRIZE Foundation is to create a future in which the general public will personally participate in space travel and its benefits. But all of this requires an investment. Be a part of history. Give to the ANSARI X PRIZE.
CLICK HERE to Become a General Member for the low cost of $20
CLICK HERE to Become a Senior Associate.
CLICK HERE to help the X PRIZE Foundation via a secure donation to PayPal!
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