380-foot wings will launch cargo into space
380-foot wings will launch cargo into space
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan are building the world's biggest plane to help launch cargo and astronauts into space, in the latest of several ventures fueled by technology tycoons clamoring to write America's next chapter in space flight.
Their plans, unveiled Tuesday, call for a twin-fuselage aircraft with wings longer than a football field to carry a rocket high into the atmosphere and drop it, avoiding the need for a launch pad and the expense of additional rocket fuel.
Allen, who teamed up with Rutan in 2004 to send the first privately financed, manned spacecraft into space, said his new project would "keep America at the forefront of space exploration" and give a new generation of children something to dream about.
Allen and Rutan join a field crowded with Silicon Valley veterans who grew up on "Star Trek" and now want to fill a void created with the retirement of NASA's space shuttle. Several companies are competing to develop spacecraft to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
"When I was growing up, America's space program was the symbol of aspiration," he said. "For me, the fascination with space never ended. I never stopped dreaming what might be possible."
Allen and Rutan last collaborated on the experimental SpaceShipOne, which was launched in the air from a special aircraft. It became the first privately financed, manned spacecraft to dash into space in 2004 and later won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for accomplishing the feat twice in two weeks.
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic licensed the technology and is developing SpaceShipTwo to carry tourists to space.
The new plane will have a wingspan of 380 feet — the world's largest. The plane will carry under its belly a space capsule with its own booster rocket; it will blast into orbit after the plane climbs high into the atmosphere.
This method saves money by not using rocket fuel to get off the ground. Another older rocket company, Orbital Sciences Corp., uses this method for unmanned rockets to launch satellites.
The rockets will eventually carry people, but the first tests, scheduled for 2016, will be unmanned. It should be another five years before people can fly on the system that Allen and Rutan are calling Stratolaunch.
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- Posted on December 13, 2011
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This is a very good idea.Scientist have been discovering allot of stuff.I was very impressed with this great idea. This is a pretty big airplane so they could take stuff to the astronauts.
It is good that scientists are making these incredible discoveries, because these can open up an entirely new frontier! Although man has only existed on Earth, It will not be long before they can conquer space. This plane is a giant step forward in that process.
Great idea on their part. Don't know how they are going to make it strong enough to get through the atmosphere. That is one big plane though. Good luck.
I was so impressed with the idea of getting supplies into space part of the way by plane rather than rocket the whole way. I wouldn't have thought of the amazingly creative idea in a million years; I thought there wasn't any other way of getting things to space, but this article proved me wrong. I was mostly impressed by the budget of this project; it was cheaper because it costed less for fuel on takeoff than rockets do. Using the same method to launch satellites into space with the world's largest plane took a lot of creativity and planning. Even though the technology is very complicated, Allen and Rutan (the creators) are still improving their plans and making them better by making their rockets unmanned. Having the world's largest plane drop a rocket out of the sky and send supplies into space is truly impressive.
I could not imagine that flying over my head. I would, however, love to see it. Although if it does crash and burn i would want to be no wear near it.
That is really crazy. That plane is huge. I don't fully understand how planes fly, but it would be so cool to see that thing fly through the air and deliver things to space. Good luck!
thats crazy radical, ive always been a fan of planes, even though ive never been one one a day in my life, also it seems weird that they would be launching a plane or aircraft like that into space!
Yeah I agree with Joseph1243 that's just a ridiculous amount of money wasted if it doesn't work. So I HOPE it does work. After all, It is the U.S.A.'s money.
i dont see why it wouldent work. you have o biger wing span so you still get lift when flying in hier altiduds. there are like 6 jets a normal camershal airliner has 2 so i hope to see it hapen.
A 380 foot space plane? I'm feeling a little uneasy about this one, a object so massive in the air, I don't see how one could control the thing. I also wonder how more efficient this plan will be. Something that large would take a lot of energy to lift it and a rocket capsule. Overall this may not end well for the developers.To some it all up this is a bad idea from the start.