12 August 2003
News - Vehicles (Good)
Three Tests
And a wedding
by Carol Pinchefsky
By Carol Pinchefsky


SpaceShipOne made the news with its very successful test flight. Scaled Composite's X-Prize entry performed over 60% of the expected handling quality in its one-hour, nineteen-minute flight. A touchdown in Mojave, California, concluded after thorough tests of avionics, trim sensitivity, and stick forces. SpaceShipOne's altitude was not reported. See the X-Prize announcement for more information.

In addition, Starchaser Industries also conducted not one but two successful drop tests of its Nova 2 capsule, released at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Nova 2, a manned rocket capsule, used a steerable parachute canopy to "make it possible to fly the craft like a glider." Consult the Starchaser article for more.

In other news, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko married his bride Ekaterina Dmitriev from the International Space Station. The bride wore white; the groom wore a bowtie with his uniform.
Share |
Carol Pinchefsky 12 August 2003
Please send comments, critiques and queries to feedback@spacefuture.com.
All material copyright Space Future Consulting except as noted.