Rutan is back and he's going for the X Prize

[MtnGoat]

Burt Rutan is known for brilliant aeronautical research, unconventional designs, and getting results on special projects. His company, Scaled Composites, designed and built the Voyager, which went around the world nonstop on one fueling, along with many other high efficiency designs.

 

Yesterday Rutan unveiled SC's ongoing private space program and intent to sieze the the X Prize, an award of $10 Mill to the first private, non govt entity to launch civilians into space (defined as 100km high, or 62 miles) and return them safely to earth, a task which must be done twice in 10 days to win.

 

Rutan's unconventional take on this project includes an airborne launch from a mother ship, and a tiny suborbital aircraft powered by a rocket engine burning liquid rubber oxidized by nitrous. Re entry will be accomplished by feathering large tailsurfaces to achieve an extreme nose up attitude for the craft in order to increase surface drag and keep the temperatures low enough to escape using heat tiles on the hull.

 

Check it all out at:

 

www.scaled.com/projects/t.../index.htm

 

Way cool. With Rutan in the race, I'll bet the other competitors are sweating it!

[Dave_Schuldt]

10 mil doesn't seem like much compared to the cost of such an undertaking. Should be cool, hope he can pull it off.