Tag Archive for 'Burt Rutan'

Burt Rutan, Peter Smith Play a Round of Golf

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on September 28, 2008
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Spacemen: Two men behind the future of American space exploration and commerce compete to launch little white balls into the unknown
Washington Post Magazine

“Early this year, I learned that Peter Smith, the principal investigator and driving force behind NASA’s astoundingly successful Phoenix Mission to explore Mars via remote-controlled robots, was also a golf enthusiast. I did a quick calculation: [Burt] Rutan, space flight pioneer + Smith, nation’s leading Mars authority + golf, male-bonding session = irresistible story.”

Rutan: SS2 Not Worked on in a Year; Accident Report Due Soon

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on July 28, 2008
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Jeff Foust has an update on why SpaceShipTwo remained in the shop while its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft was rolled out on Monday. Apparently, it’s been sitting there at 70 percent complete for the past year while the company thoroughly investigated an explosion that claimed the lives of three workers. Foust quotes designer Burt Rutan as saying:

“We have not worked on SpaceShipTwo in a year because there’s a possibility that the propulsion system would be markedly different and we’d be building things that we would have to scrap.”

Rutan declined to elaborate on technical matters beyond saying that the accident investigation is resulting in “a lot” of changes to the suborbital vehicle. He also said that report on the July 26, 2007 explosion would be released soon.

The comments are in sharp contrast to remarks made by X Prize founder Peter Diamandis, who immediately after the accident publicly claimed that the explosion was unrelated to spaceflight and had no bearing on the safety of the vehicle that Scaled Composites is building for Virgin Galactic.

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Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites Roll-out “Eve” Mothership

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Sir Richard Branson and designer Burt Rutan walk aside the Virgin Mothership “Eve” (VMS EVE) in Mojave, CA. on the eve of its official rollout on July 28, 2008.

Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Liner Mothership
Space.com

“With all the pageantry of a king’s arrival, the WhiteKnightTwo — a huge flying launch pad to support passenger suborbital space travel — is making its public debut here today.

“The rollout of the colossal composite plane signals the first phase of a critical test program to establish a private spaceliner business — a venture being bankrolled by British entrepreneur and billionaire, Richard Branson and his Virgin Group.

“Looking like a giant catamaran for the sky, the twin-boom, two individual fuselages are topped by a large, 140-foot (42-meter) long stretch of wing. The aircraft will straddle and carry to drop altitude (around 48,000 feet) the SpaceShipTwo — a six passenger, two pilot craft that, once released, rocket’s pay-per-view passengers to some 65 miles (104 km) above the Earth.”

Virgin Galactic Unveils Launch Plane for Upcoming Spacecraft
Wired.com

“After years of secretive construction, Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic presented the first stage of their commercial launch platform, WhiteKnightTwo, today at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

“Sir Richard Branson explains his motive for creating Virgin Galactic: ‘Seeing the planet from out there surrounded by the incredibly thin layer of atmosphere helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small proportion of the planet’s mass that we inhabit and to the importance of protecting the Earth.’”

VIRGIN GALACTIC PRESS RELEASE

Virgin Founder, Sir Richard Branson and SpaceShipOne designer, Burt Rutan, today pulled back the hangar doors on the new WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft that will ferry SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts, science packages and payload on the first stage of the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space experience.

The rollout represents another major milestone in Virgin Galactic’s quest to launch the world’s first private, environmentally benign, space access system for people, payload and science.

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Whitehorn Claims SpaceShipTwo “Thousands of Times Safer” on Eve of Roll-out; FAA Official Tells Tourism Companies to Get Real on Safety

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on July 26, 2008
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Almost exactly one year after a fatal explosion that claimed the lives of three Scaled Composites workers, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn has made an extraordinary safety claim about the as-yet-unflown SpaceShipTwo vehicle during an interview with The Independent.

“Q: New technology involves risk, space travel most certainly does. How can you manage the dangers?

WW: We’re trying to take the riskiest things out of the equation. Ground-based rocketry involves firing a massive explosion under somebody to leave the planet – we’ve eliminated that. So you’re launching in a very safe environment. We’ve hopefully eliminated some of the risks of re-entry, which is another of the most dangerous aspects.

We believe that this will be thousands of times safer than any previous human flights into space.”

The claim came during the same week that George Nield, head of the FAA unit that regulates commercial human space flight, warned space tourism companies to get serious about the risks faced by their wealthy clients.

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Burt Rutan Steps Down, Shane Takes Over

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on June 6, 2008
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Burt Rutan, Designer Of SpaceShipOne, Steps Down as Scaled President
AP

Burt Rutan, inventor of the first privately financed manned rocket to reach space, stepped down as president of Scaled Composites LLC, the company announced Wednesday.

Rutan gave up his day-to-day responsibilities at Scaled, which he founded in 1982. Scaled Vice President Douglas B. Shane was promoted to president, while Rutan will remain at the company as chief technology officer and chairman emeritus….

Rutan has been recovering from open-heart surgery in February to fix a disorder known as constrictive pericarditis, in which the sac covering the heart is inflamed.

NSS to Give Heinlein Award to Burt Rutan

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on April 15, 2008
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Washington D.C. - April 15, 2008 – The National Space Society (NSS) announced today that famed aircraft and spacecraft designer Burt Rutan will receive the Heinlein award for lifetime achievement in aerospace.

The award, which is given out every two years, will be bestowed upon Rutan by CNN correspondent Miles O’Brien at the Gala dinner of the 27th Annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) taking place at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 30, 2008.

The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award honors those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a free, spacefaring civilization. The Award is named after author Robert A. Heinlein, in memory of him and of his many contributions to the pro-space movement. The award is awarded based on a vote of the entire NSS membership. The 2008 award will be the 12th Heinlein award given.

“With this award, the members of NSS recognize Burt Rutan for his life’s work in advancing the frontiers of air and space,” said NSS Executive Director, George T. Whitesides.

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SpaceShipTwo Under Construction in Mojave

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on March 28, 2008
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Popular Mechanics has some fascinating pictures of Scaled Composite’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle under construction at the company’s facility in Mojave, Calif. Test flights are to occur later this year, with the first tourism flights for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to follow in 12 to 18 months.

Hall Ambulance employees to receive honors for response to Mojave explosion

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on March 6, 2008
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Emergency workers from Hall Ambulance are being honored for their response to the fatal explosion last summer at the Scaled Composites’ facility in Mojave, the Bakersfield Californian reports.

The rescue personnel responded to the scene soon after the accident, not knowing whether another explosion was imminent. Two Scaled employees were dead and four others injured, one of whom later died after being airlifted to a local hospital. “One patient was covered with little black carbon fibers sticking out of his body,” the paper reports.

The personnel being honored by the California Ambulance Association’s Stars of Life program in Sacramento this week include:

    Chris Beucher, flight medic
    Samuel Swanson, paramedic
    Heather Taylor, paramedic
    Sean Eddy, paramedic field supervisor
    Brent Wible, paramedic
    Timothy Reynolds, paramedic
    Jeanette Green, flight nurse
    Michael Knutson, EMT

Beucher said he is honored to receive the recognition. “TV portrays it as six months later you meet the victim in his backyard and have a barbecue,” he told the paper. “More often than not we take heat from people.”

The State of California issued five citations against Scaled Composites and issued fines of more than $25,000. The company has appealed the citations and fines.

Burt Rutan on Mend Following Heart Surgery

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on February 24, 2008
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SpaceShipTwo designer Burt Rutan is recovering from open heart surgery, according to a report by MSNBC’s Alan Boyle. The 64-year-old Rutan had heart surgery at UCLA Medical Center on February 7. He expects recovery to take about three months.

Rutan is leading Scaled Composite’s efforts to build a suborbital tourism vehicle for Virgin Galactic. Initial test flights are schedule for later this year, with commercial flights occurring as early as 2010.

Composites Faulted in Explosion, Appealing Citations

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Doug
on February 7, 2008
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A report by California safety officials indicates that Scaled Composites workers were watching a rocket propellant system test through a chain-link fence when an explosion occurred and killed three of them, according to an AP account.

The report comes a month after California fined the company $28,000 for alleged safety violations at the company’s Mojave facility. The AP reports that Scaled Composites is appealing the citations and the fine.

There is additional information at:

FlightGlobal.com: Accident report points to oxidizer tank

NewScientistSpace.com: Report leaves Scaled Composites blast a mystery