X Prize – The Space Vacation Contest

Duncan Graham-Rowe

September 2004

On 21 June 2004 in the Mojave Desert, Michael Melvill climbed into a home-made spacecraft the size of a small sports car and launched himself up to a breathtaking altitude of 100 kilometres and into the history books. He was the first private astronaut to rocket into space; a feat that launched him into the legendary realms of pioneering aviators like Charles Lindbergh and the Wright Brothers. Melvill's achievement also heralds the beginning of an era of commercial space travel and ultimately space tourism.

To accomplish this feat, Melvill's spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, had to be capable of reaching an exit velocity of nearly 5000 kilometres per hour – that's four times the speed of sound, or Mach 4. On top of this, the craft had to be able to withstand the rigours of space, albeit only briefly, survive re-entry and land safely. It was without a doubt a dangerous venture, but one with a huge incentive.

Motivating his US team, Scaled Composites, is the prestigious $10 million X Prize – set up by Peter Diamandis, president of the non-profit educational organisation the X Prize Foundation, to encourage non-governmental manned space flights. But despite the success of Melvill's first space flight, the race is not yet won. Before he can claim this prize, Melvill will have to get back into his spacecraft and do it all over again – twice more. For the rules of the X Prize state that the title will be won by the first team to reach an altitude of 100 kilometres (the edge of space), return to earth and then repeat the feat with the same craft within two weeks. Melvill's success in June was a test flight, but his team are now ready to go for the double flight that would win them the prize.

With aeronautical veteran Burt Rutan leading the team and high profile financiers like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Scaled Composites has long been the front runner in the X Prize contest. The team is set to have its stab at the prize on 29 September, with the second flight booked on 4 October. But they do have competition.

If SpaceShipOne fails to make both flights, a Canadian team aren't far behind. The da Vinci Project, led by Toronto-based Brian Feeney, is planning on launching a rocket, Wild Fire, in October. And there are others behind Feeney. Since 1996, when the X Prize was first set up, 27 teams have registered to take part. With the prize due to expire at the end of 2004, this year has seen a frenzy of activity, as various teams scramble to get their rockets built in time for a shot at the prize.

Getting off the ground

Getting into space is a massive achievement. Every pound of payload carried by Nasa's Space Shuttle costs between $10,000 and $20,000 to launch. This is partly due to the fact that to reach the necessary 5000 kilometres per hour exit velocity, Space Shuttles have to carry 20 times their own weight in fuel. If successful, the da Vinci project will manage it for just $338 per pound. Of course the Space Shuttle is much bigger, weighing a colossal two million kilograms, and has to reach greater altitudes, sufficient to orbit the Earth; whereas X Prize flights are merely sub-orbital and just reach the edge space, yet stay long enough for passengers to experience 200 seconds of weightlessness. But to achieve even this they will need to generate considerable thrust in order to reach their target altitude.

To reduce the amount of fuel they need to carry, most rockets are designed in two stages. SpaceShipOne, for example, uses a purpose-built jet-powered plane called White Knight to carry it to an altitude of about 15,000 metres before releasing the rocket. A few seconds after release, the pilot ignites a hybrid rocket engine that burns rubber-based solid fuel and nitrous oxide. The latter acts as an oxidizer, which enables the fuel to burn in a way that can be safely controlled. This hybrid engine combines the simplicity and stability of solid rocket fuels with the safety and controllability of liquid fuels.

After 70 seconds of firing, the craft continues coasting straight up to reach the fringes of space, where the curvature of Earth and the blackness of space are visible, before the freefall descent back down to Earth begins. As SpaceShipOne re-enters Earth's atmosphere, the folded wings produce drag which causes a 'shuttlecock effect', slowing the craft down. The wings then pivot to resemble conventional wings, generating lift, whereupon the craft behaves like a glider and lands on an airstrip.

In contrast, da Vinci's rocket, Wild Fire, takes a much lower tech approach. Instead of using a plane to carry the rocket part of the way, they will use a helium balloon with the rocket tethered beneath it at an angle so that it doesn't hit the balloon when it's released and fired up. Wild Fire will also use a hybrid rocket engine but because it will be launched from a higher altitude, 24,000 metres, less fuel will be needed.

A risky business

The rules of the contest say that the craft must be capable of carrying at least three people. But for safety reasons, one pilot is allowed to fly alone with the equivalent weight of two passengers loaded onboard. In light of the accidents that have already occurred, it's probably just as well that most teams are taking advantage this.

In August 2004, two teams' rockets failed spectacularly during testing within just a couple of days of each other. The first, designed by John Carmack, creator of the successful computer game Doom, was a 1.2-metre-wide rocket called Black Armadillo which crashed 20 seconds after its launch in Texas. The next day, a 1-metre-wide rocket, Rubicon 1, designed by Washington-based Space Transport Corporation, exploded shortly after take-off, 300 metres above the state's Olympia National Park.

Black Armadillo's crash, the fourth of 35 prototype test flights to do so, was attributed to a fuel leak. Rubicon 1's explosion was traced to a manufacturing flaw in the engine. No-one was onboard either rocket but the events were a stark reminder of the level of risk-taking involved.

Even Scaled Composites have had their share of problems. After safely landing, Melvill reported a scary moment in his historic flight when he heard a loud bang behind him during the rocket burn phase. An inspection revealed a crumpled engine fairing. This component had been added at the last moment and according to Rutan the crumpled fairing had no impact on the safety of the flight.

Space odyssey

Regardless of who actually wins the $10 million X Prize, the real victors will be the team that make space travel profitable. For although the prize money will undoubtedly come in handy for the winner, it doesn't cover the cost of building a craft like SpaceShipOne, which cost $20 million. The real end goal for people like Feeney and Rutan is to create a new industry, offering flights into space for anyone willing and able to pay.

At the moment, the only way to buy your way into space is to follow in the footsteps of millionaires like Dennis Tito, who hitched a ride with the Russian Space Agency. You'd have to cough up $20 million to follow Tito on one return trip to the International Space Station. Alternatively, Space Adventures, the company that brokered the deal for Tito and those that have since followed him, offers people the chance to experience simulated zero gravity in a 'vomit comet', a modified Boeing 727-700 that flies a rollercoaster-like parabolic flight path. For under $3000, you get to experience micro gravity for up to 25 seconds as the plane freefalls.

And now the company claims it will soon be offering cut-price space flights at around $98,000. Although this may still seem a bit steep, Space Adventures reckon they already have more than 100 people lined up and waiting. Meanwhile, other high profile figures like Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, are getting in on the act. Branson recently announced a deal with Scaled Composites to begin commercial trips to space by 2007 for $207,000.

Feeney already has plans underway to build a new craft capable of carrying six passengers and a pilot. And rather than just sub-orbital flights, the aim is to reach orbit so passengers can get their money's worth by spending longer in space. But that's some way off. First they'll have to get into space and prove that it's safe.

Find out more

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Websites

X Prize
www.xprize.org
Official X Prize site that followed the competitors in the race.

British National Space Centre
www.bnsc.gov.uk
Information about Britain's development of space technology.

Destination Mars
www.channel4.com/science/microsites/M/mars/
Channel 4 site that tells the story of Mars exploration and shows how scientists are creating their own versions of Mars on Earth, so they can prepare the planet's first explorers. Check out the space game.

Fly Rockets
www.flyrockets.com/
An introduction to sport, amateur, model and high-powered rockets and rocketry.

Golden Palace.com Space Program
www.davinciproject.com/beta/
Powered by the Canadian da Vinci Project, this site has information on the pursuit of the X Prize.

Mike Melvill – In the News
http://mike-melvill.wikiverse.org/
This site has information and links to interviews and articles on the first commercial astronaut – Mike Melvill.

Rocketry Online
www.rocketryonline.com
Gives up-to-date information about model, high-powered and amateur rocketry with discussion forums and a chat room.

Russian Space Web – Mir
www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html
Current news about the Russian space program and a history of astronautics in the former Soviet Union, with excellent images of the Mir Space Station.

Space Telescope Science Institute
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/
Pictures from the Hubble telescope and a news centre.

Space
www.space.com
The definitive space website which offers compelling content, featuring news, information, technology, science, business, entertainment and an education channel. The site followed the X Prize and has lots of images of SpaceShipOne.

Space Adventures
www.spaceadventures.com
US-based space travel company that brokered the deal with millionaire Dennis Tito. It offers membership to a club that provides members with the tools, experience and training needed to achieve spaceflight.

Test Pilot – Scaled Composites
www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/tessites.htm
Biographies of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the first private, manned spacecraft, manufactured by Scaled Composites.

The United Kingdom Rocketry Association
www.ukra.org.uk
National organisation that represents model, high-powered and amateur rocketry enthusiasts.

Books

	Entering Space: Creating a space-faring civilisation by Robert Zubrin (Tarcher, 2000) Looking at the future of space travel, this explores the true potential of human travel and settlement on the outer planets. Get this book
	E Explore Space Travel (Dorling Kindersley, 2004) Blast through space on the tail of a comet or follow Mars Rover as it explores the red planet. All the Internet sites have been specially selected, giving you the latest exciting information on space travel. Perfect for projects or just for fun. Aimed at kids. Get this book
	Making Space Happen: Private space ventures and the visionaries behind them by Paula Berinstein (Independent Publishers Group, 2002) From entrepreneurs planning to turn mass space travel into a money-making opportunity to a science fiction author arguing against the privatisation of space, 22 people are interviewed by space industry observer Berinstein. Get this book
	The Race by James Schefter (Arrow, 2000) Close-up coverage of the Cold War space race between the Americans and the Soviets. Gives a full account from the end of the Second World War to the first man on the moon. Get this book
	Rockets Into Space by Frank Winter (Harvard University Press, 1993) Discusses the technological breakthroughs of the evolution of rocket propulsion and vehicle design over the last 30 years. Get this book
	Space: An illustrated history of space exploration in photographs by Andrew Chaikin (Carlton Books, 2002) Among the events captured are the momentous flight of Yuri Gagarin, the early Mercury spaceflights, the historic Apollo 11 mission, and the long lifetime of the Russian Mir Space station, as well as stunning photographs taken by satellite craft such as the Hubble Space Telescope, There is also a foreword by Jim Lovell, astronaut on Apollo 8 and Apollo 13. Get this book
	Space Tourism: Do you want to go? by John Spencer (Apogee Books, 2004) Space architect Spencer looks at the space tourism industry; an industry destined to be large, prestigious and profitable. Get this book

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