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Spaceship 1

4,020 AlexMurphy20040118  8.5 years ago

New Craft!Different from the last one!SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with suborbital flight capability that uses a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folded upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increased drag while remaining stable. SpaceShipOne completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. Th hat same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mother ship was named "White Knight". Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million.

General Characteristics

  • Created On iOS
  • Wingspan 52.6ft (16.0m)
  • Length 29.3ft (8.9m)
  • Height 7.9ft (2.4m)
  • Empty Weight 4,989lbs (2,263kg)
  • Loaded Weight 8,341lbs (3,783kg)

Performance

  • Power/Weight Ratio 0.808
  • Wing Loading 28.0lbs/ft2 (136.7kg/m2)
  • Wing Area 297.9ft2 (27.7m2)
  • Drag Points 3095

Parts

  • Number of Parts 61
  • Control Surfaces 16
  • Performance Cost 337