A number
of highly enthusiastic supporters of Space
Access attended their 'SpaceGateway
Experience' event in Key Largo Florida
which opened on January 6th, 2008 at the exclusive
Ocean Reef Club community.
Space Cruise News was
there and was enlightened on Space
Access' patented Ejector Ramjet technology,
which they stated, has the ability to power
their 'Skyhopper' reusable
launch vehicles into space.
Steve Wurst, CEO reiterated that Space
Access will carry passengers safely
into sub orbital space and back for no more
costly than taking an Ocean Cruise.” |
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Further, he said, they plan on accomplishing
this by 2011 from their own Spaceport contained within
a future economically-friendly 'Space City'
community' located on 25,000 acres by the Kennedy Ranch
in Eastern Texas.
Space Cruise News will follow
the progress of Space Access as it
progresses towards fulfilling its optimistic objectives.
Although Space Access has
quality experience and talent, can it secure the necessary
resources to meet its deadlines and satisfy its goals?
Watch for further updates on this story. For additional
information on Space Access visit their
site at www.spaceaccess.com and
check out the following news reports:
Space
Access: not just a space tourism company
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/category/business/space-access-llc/
Space Access Plans Out-of-This-World
Coastal Bend Theme Community
http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7533404&nav=Bsmh
Space Access Relaunches
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/2007/12/21/space-access-relaunches/
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SPACE ACCESS(R) Offers
Major Expansion of Space Tourism Beginning
January 2008 |
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http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-
bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-20-2007/0004726261&EDATE= |
Updated: Dec 23, 2007 12:48 AM
Space Access Plans Out-of-This-World Theme Community
A company from Indiana plans to
offer what it calls an "experience of a lifetime" vacation
package that includes a bird's eye view of North America
from space.
Space Access founder Steve Wurst said he worked with
President Bush when he was governor and with and Gov.
Rick Perry to make the dream of a space community a
reality in Texas.
Wurst has been in talks with the Kennedy Memorial Foundation
for about a decade to build a space port and city of
the future on Kennedy Ranch.
Sate of the art developers would build an economically-friendly
community on roughly 25,000 acres of land there something
similar to Disney's celebration in Central Florida."But
instead of amusement related to animated characters," Wurst
said, "the main draw would be the space tourism
theme."
Wurst said the community would help support a space
port on Kennedy Ranch, where up to 15 sub-orbital flights
would be offered daily starting in 2011.
Space tourists would board what is being called a hypersonic
vehicle, built with wings and ejector ram jet, to fly
you 600,000 feet over the Gulf Coast at a speed seven
times the speed of sound. As the craft enters the atmosphere
travelers experience weightlessness.
"You'd be able to look back on Central America," Wurst
said, "and back toward the Rockies behind you,
the mountains. And the East Coast and toward the Caribbean--
all during one flight."
Eight minutes of space travel later, Wurst said, travelers
would fly over South Florida coast where Space Access
looks to build another space port.
The company plans to offer one-way or round-trip packages
back to Corpus Christi at a cost comparable to an ocean
cruise. The space port project on Kennedy Ranch is
being unveiled during an expo in Key Largo, Fla., on
Jan. 6.
Organizers want the public's input on the project.
Logon to http://www.spaceaccess.com to book a trip.
________________________________________________________________
Q- Who will start commercial passenger sub-orbital
flights and when?
A- Although there are a number of companies
developing their vehicles, our pick is Scaled Composite's
new SpaceShipTwo Cruiser known as “ENTERPRISE” to
begin the experience in late 2009. RocketPlane Global's
RocketPlane XP has yet to prove it's concept and make
the trip as well as XCOR's Xerus, PlanetSpace's Silver
Dart, SpaceX's Flacon, Blue Origin's Goddard (from the
New Shepard Program), SpaceDev's Dream Chaser, Starchaser's
Thunderstar, or the Russian's Explorer from Space Adventures.
It looks as if there are quite a few vying to capture
the new sub orbital space adventure frontier!
Q- What will it cost?
A- Space Adventures has been offering the experience
for $102,000, however, with whom? It's unproven Explorer?
RocketPlane XP which has not yet flown and demonstrated
its proof of concept, through Incredible Adventures or
Space Travellers is accepting 50 founder reservations
at $250,000 each. Hopefully flying in 2010. Abercrombie
and Kent (A & K Travel) had also been accepting bookings
at similar costs but their deal has melted! Planet Space's
Silver Dart, also untested, will soon be accepting reservations
for $250,000. Virgin Galactic's $200,000 fare has received
hundreds of reservations. Soon Xtraordinary Adventures
will offer a $35,000 space experience package with some
lucky picks going into sub orbital space! What next?
Q- Am I safe?
A- This is a risky business. Each carrier
will have to demonstrate, over time, its ability to transport
passengers, safely and bring them through an experience
worth the risks and costs. Currently there is no insurance
available until some history is established.
Q- Who is most likely to consider
doing the experience?
A- Expect an experienced male entrepreneur over 55, probably
married with children, in ok physical shape to be your
most typical passenger although women should make up
about 28% of the travelers. They will come worldwide
but majority from the USA.
Q- I am interested in more information
and options, where do I go?
A- There are lots of sources to get up to the minute
information. Here is a selection of recommended resources:
Bigalow Aerodynamics (www.hobbyspace.com)
Blue Origin (www.blueorigin.com)
Incredible Adventures (www.incredible-adventures.com)
PlanetSpace (www.planetspace.org)
RocketPlane Global (www.RocketPlane.com)
Space Adventures (www.spaceadventures.com)
SpaceDev (www.SpaceDev.com)
Space Exploration Technologies (www.spacex.com)
Space Travellers (www.space-travellers.com)
Starchaser (www.starchaser.co.uk)
Virgin Galactic (www.virgingalactic.com)
Xcor Aerospace (www.xcor.com)
Each week SPACE CRUISE NEWS will attempt to answer your
questions andclarify what is happening in the sub orbital
space tourist market. As the interest of future adventurers
continue to grow, what was science fiction a few decades
ago now becomes almost a common place experience within
the reach of millions.
If you have a question or want
to learn more about a sub orbital space experience
kindly email your requests to: SPACE CRUISE NEWS at
request@SpaceCruiseNews.com and join our list of growing
space enthusiasts and receive a FREE copy of The Weekly
SPACE CRUISE NEWS Report.
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PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Thursday, January 3, 2008
Source: Purdue University
Purdue wind tunnel key for 'hypersonic
vehicles,' future space planes
By using the only wind tunnel capable of running
quietly at "hypersonic" speeds, Purdue
University engineeve conducted experiments to yield
critical data for designing an advanced aircraft
called the X-51A, powered by engines called scramjets.
The X-51A test vehicle is expected to evolve into
missiles capable of flying at Mach 6 - or six times
the speed of sound - enabling them to hit mobile "time-critical" targets.
Scramjets also may propel future military and civilian
space planes.
The quiet wind tunnel operation is critical for collecting
data to show precisely how air flows over a vehicle's
surface in flight. No other wind tunnel runs quietly
while conducting experiments in airstreams traveling
at Mach 6, said Steven Schneider, an aerospace engineer
and professor in Purdue's School of Aeronautics and
Astronautics.
"A quiet wind tunnel yields more accurate data
because it more closely simulates flight," he
said.
Specifically, engineers need detailed information
about how airflow changes from "laminar," or
smooth, to turbulent as it speeds over an aircraft's
surfaces. The information is essential to properly
design vehicles that fly at hypersonic speeds, or
faster than Mach 5, nearly 4,000 mph, Schneider said.
The X-51 project is led by the Air Force Research
Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, and the vehicle is being built by Pratt & Whitney
and the Boeing Co. Purdue engineers are part of a
national team of researchers from government, academia
and industry handling different aspects of the vehicle.
The Purdue research focuses on the forebody, or front
portion of the craft, using a foot-long model for
wind-tunnel testing. Research findings are providing
information in two vital areas: maintaining the turbulent
flow of air into the engine's combustor to keep the
scramjet running properly, and increasing the amount
of smooth airflow over the vehicle's upper surface
to reduce friction and heat that could damage or
destroy the vehicle. The higher the Mach number,
the greater the friction and heat generated in flight.
Findings are detailed in a research paper to be presented
on Jan. 8 during the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics' 46th Aerospace Sciences Meeting
and Exhibit in Reno, Nev. The paper was written by
Schneider and graduate research assistant Matthew
P. Borg.
The X-51A is a wedge-shaped vehicle with a scooplike
cowl on its underbelly, where air rushes into the
inlet of the engine's combustor. It is critical for
air entering the inlet to be turbulent at hypersonic
speeds, or the engine could "unstart," causing
it to crash, Schneider said.
For this reason, air has to be converted to a turbulent
flow before entering the inlet. This conversion is
accomplished using a raised strip of metal placed
near the inlet to "trip" the air from smooth
to turbulent. Wind tunnel tests are helping engineers
better understand this "roughness-induced transition."
The research findings will enable engineers to determine
precisely where to place the trips and how far they
should be raised from the aircraft's skin, Schneider
said.
Experiments under quiet conditions yielded more accurate
findings compared with experiments under noisy conditions.
The quiet data indicated the trips should be raised
about twice as high.
At the same time, air flowing over the top of the
vehicle should be as smooth as possible to reduce
friction and heating, which increases drag and necessitates
a heavier thermal protection system for the vehicle's
thin metal skin. Data from the experiments will be
used to assess the performance of that portion of
the vehicle.
"Laminar airflows can have eight times less
heating than turbulent ones," Schneider said.
The researchers used a temperature-sensitive paint
to measure how hot the skin of the model gets during
testing. The paint was coated on a nylon strip inserted
into the model. Shining a blue light onto the strip
during testing generates a temperature-dependent
red light from the paint. The intensity of the red
light shows how hot the surface is.
"The results of our work can be used to help
determine the heating and the skin friction of the
vehicle, which is important for the design of the
X-51A," Schneider said.
The vehicle is scheduled to fly in a series of tests
by 2009. The project is part of an effort to build
future missiles six times faster than today's cruise
missiles.
Scramjets, or supersonic combustion ramjets, could
lead to the design of space planes that are far less
expensive to operate than the current space shuttles,
making it more affordable to haul payloads into orbit.
The space planes would use a combination of scramjets
and rockets. Because scramjets use air from the atmosphere
as the "oxidizer" to combust fuel, they
do not require the liquid oxygen needed for rockets.
That means vehicles equipped with scramjets would
carry less liquid oxygen only enough needed to
operate rockets at high altitude.
"And if you don't have to carry as much oxidizer,
you can make the vehicle a lot lighter, or you could
make the structure heavier and more robust," Schneider
said.
The researchers are able to switch the wind tunnel
back and forth from quiet to high-noise airflow,
which allows them to compare the quality of data
in the two modes.
To measure the airflow velocity and turbulence, the
researchers use a heated wire about one-tenth the
diameter of a human hair. The higher the speed of
the airflow, the more the wire is cooled and the
greater the electrical current needed to maintain
the wire's hot temperature. Monitoring the changing
current needed to maintain the wire's temperature
reveals the changing air speed at fluctuations of
up to 250,000 times per second.
"This enables us to see how it goes from laminar
to turbulent," Schneider said.
The research paper details the first major findings
from the quiet wind tunnel after about 18 years of
research to perfect the facility, which will be used
to analyze the performance of hypersonic vehicles.
"Purdue, the Air Force and private industry
have invested about $1 million in this tunnel over
that time, and it's finally working and getting results
that are affecting the design of these vehicles," Schneider
said. Scramjet vehicles could be in use by 2015.
To obtain quiet flow, the throat of the Mach 6 nozzle
must be polished to a near-perfect mirror finish,
eliminating roughness that will trip the flow near
the wall from laminar to turbulent. Then, for the
wind tunnel to remain quiet, it must be entirely
free of particles. Even a single speck of sand could
cause turbulence inside the wind tunnel, damaging
the finish and ruining the quiet effect.
The wind tunnel is not the first of its kind. The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration previously
operated a wind tunnel capable of similar performance,
but that wind tunnel is not currently in operation.
Purdue's wind tunnel, which has been funded by the
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, Sandia
National Laboratories, the Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization and the Boeing Co., is named the Boeing/AFOSR
Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel.
Writer: Emil Venere, (765) 494-4709, venere@purdue.edu
Source: Steven Schneider, (765) 494-3343, steves@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: An electronic copy of the paper
is available from Emil Venere at (765) 494-4709,
venere@purdue.edu, and can be downloaded at http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~aae519/BAM6QT-Mach-6-tunnel/tunnelpapers/2008-0592.pdf
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue doctoral student Matthew P. Borg holds a model
of an advanced aircraft called the X-51A, which will
be powered by engines called scramjets and capable
of flying at Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound.
Purdue engineers, using the only wind tunnel capable
of running quietly at "hypersonic" speeds,
have conducted experiments to yield data critical
for the vehicle's design. The researchers, led by
Steven Schneider, are reporting the first major findings
from the quiet wind tunnel after about 18 years of
research to perfect the facility, which will be used
to analyze the performance of hypersonic vehicles.
(Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality photograph is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2007/borg-windtunnel.jpg
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