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Back in December
something amazing happened. SpaceshipOne rocket became the
first manned aircraft, developed and owned by a private company
to break the sound barrier. The flight was a necessary step toward
achieving an altitude of 328,000 feet, the amount needed to win
the $10 million dollar X Prize.
Innovation of this type is absolutely necessary to rekindle
America’s interest in space, to challenge our youth by
providing a vision of the future where hope and opportunity
exist. Moreover, NASA simply cannot do this alone. According to
a recent Business Week article, “Since man last set foot on
the moon in 1972, NASA has enjoyed a monopoly on U.S. manned
space missions, doling out contracts to its aerospace cronies.
As a result, the cost of putting people back in orbit is about
the same now as 30 years ago – roughly $10,000 per pound,
although cheaper commercial launch vehicles are available.
Burt Rutan, one of the world’s most innovative aircraft
designers and owner of SpaceShip One is determined to capture
the X Prize with his Scaled Composites company. The designer of
the Voyager, the balloon-like aircraft that flew around the
world on a single tank of gas, believes the monopoly could be
ending. “If I can do this with my little company, there will
be a lot more people who say, ‘I can do that too.’”.
In addition to Rutan, another 27 teams are pursuing the X Prize,
which many think will be claimed this summer. The X Prize
requires a privately built spacecraft and three passengers to
rocket 62.5 miles above the planet, and make a second successful
sub orbital trip within two weeks. The X Prize was announced in
1996 and its foundation includes Dennis Tito, the American who
spent $20 million to be the first space tourist, pilot Erik
Lindbergh, the grandson of Charles Lindbergh, former astronaut
and U.S. Senator John Glenn, and actor Tom Hanks.
Ultimately, if space is left only to NASA, says John Carmack of
Armadillo Aerospace, “cheap access to space is just not going
to happen, and it’s not because of incompetence or malice or
conspiracy. It’s just because of the way the industry has
evolved.
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| Breaking
News |
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SpaceShipOne
Rocket
takes another step toward
claiming the X Prize. The privately
built rocket reached the edge of space Thursday, May 13. (Story
by Space.com)
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90PercentVOTE.com
Democracy does not exist if the majority do not vote.
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X
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