SpaceShipOne Rolls into Smithsonian
FYI,
"Our SpaceShipOne rolls into Smithsonian
- Craft to join icons Bell X-1, Spirit of St. Louis"
Antelope Valley Press
http://www.avpress.com/n/04/1004_s2.hts
: On June 21, 2004, a stubby, star-spangled spaceship rocketed into
: history in the skies over Mojave in the first privately funded,
: manned space flight.
: On Oct. 5, 2005, SpaceShipOne will take its place with other icons
: in the history of flight, as it is unveiled in the Milestones of
: Flight Gallery of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
: The spacecraft, the creation of designer extraordinaire Burt Rutan
: and his Scaled Composites team, will hang suspended between Chuck
: Yeager's Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier,
: and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the first aircraft to
: complete a solo flight across the Atlantic.
: "It just seems to belong there," said Dr. Valerie Neal, space
: history curator for the Smithsonian Institution. "It seemed most
: natural to belong in the Milestones of Flight and most natural in
: that position."
: Joining these in the soaring, two-story gallery at the main
: entrance to the museum are the XP-59, the first American jet
: aircraft; the rocket-powered X-15, which set speed and altitude
: records in preparation for sending man into space; capsules from
: the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo program; and early rockets and
: unmanned spacecraft.
: The "grandfather" to all of these craft, the 1903 Wright Flyer,
: will rejoin the setting this fall, after nearly two years in a
: special exhibit.
: Nearby hangs yet another Rutan design, the record-setting Voyager
: aircraft, in which Rutan's brother Dick and Jeana Yeager flew
: nonstop around the world without refueling in 1986.
: "When people come into the Milestones of Flight Gallery, I think
: the impression people have is they have stepped right into the
: center of aviation history," Neal said. "These are the ones that
: punctuate the last century with memorable events. I think
: SpaceShipOne will fit into people's sense of that."
: Curators at the museum approached Rutan about acquiring
: SpaceShipOne shortly after its historic first spaceflight.
: "(SpaceShipOne) has achieved something assumed to be the province
: of government and has done so through entirely private means," said
: George Larson, editor of Air & Space magazine.
: In selecting artifacts for the collection, curators at the National
: Air and Space Museum look for multiple historic significance: first-
: time accomplishments, highest, fastest or farthest flights or other
: historic firsts.
: Alternatively, the museum seeks out aircraft that have a
: particularly distinctive history, such as military aircraft that
: took part in a particular battle.
: "We're looking for those historical superlatives," Neal said.
: The museum also seeks out examples of technological innovation and
: creativity, solving problems of flight or doing it in a new and
: different way, such as new engine or propeller designs.
: "Something that basically pushes the envelope of flight," she said.
: SpaceShipOne meets the technology innovation criteria with its
: composite structure, unique feathering technique for slowly
: re-entering the atmosphere and its hybrid rocket engine.
: The basic physics of Rutan's feathering technique, used to slow
: SpaceShipOne before it begins re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere,
: was studied previously by NASA, Larson said.
: By slowing the vehicle, Rutan was able to avoid the extremely high
: temperatures of re-entry.
: SpaceShipOne's feathering of the wings and tail is basically
: folding the spaceship in half and causing it to descend like a
: shuttlecock.
: This maneuver is the "application of a proven concept in a unique
: way," Larson said. "It turned out to be exactly the right
: application for that."
: Another important innovation of SpaceShipOne is the rocket engine
: that powered it.
: Rutan's team designed the hybrid engine themselves, coming up with
: a "very reliable, stone-simple solution" to the propulsion issue,
: he said.
: For the exclusive Milestones of Flight Gallery, entry requirements
: are more stringent.
: "There we truly are looking at a turning point or marker in the
: history of flight," Neal said, things with the "potential to turn
: flight on a pivot point and move it in another direction."
: Rutan himself has likened the success of his spacecraft to that
: popularization, in this case opening spaceflight to the public.
: "It seems to be a pivotal accomplishment that could mean a new type
: of spaceflight, a new type of access to space," Neal said of
: SpaceShipOne.
: SpaceShipOne represents a different approach to manned spaceflight
: than the previous government programs have attempted.
: This "leaner and meaner" approach focused money and effort solely
: on a very simple, efficient system, with everything focused on
: getting to space and back safely, Neal said.
: Granted, SpaceShipOne was only a first step, reaching sub-orbital
: space, but it was a big step in the direction of greater space
: access.
: "I think when people come in and see this spacecraft, which
: actually looks like a private aircraft, they will have the sense
: this is a personal spacecraft and imagine themselves in it," Neal
: said.
: SpaceShipOne's resemblance to a more traditional aircraft and small
: size - the space shuttle's immense size tends to negate its
: resemblance to an airplane that someone might imagine piloting
: - may be easier for visitors to accept as something they could
: experience themselves.
: "This is personal size; this is kind of like a sports car. I can
: see myself going into space in that," Neal said.
: SpaceShipOne's display will be something of a milestone for the
: museum itself, too. It will be the debut of a new interactive,
: multi-media system that provides visitors with greater detail and
: variety than the traditional static label describing the artifacts.
: A touch screen will allow visitors to access information, images
: and video about the spacecraft, the people involved in its creation
: and operation and its historical significance.
: "I think it will bring the artifact alive in a way the static label
: does not," Neal said.
--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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