| SPACE TRAVEL | SPACE DAILY | SPACE WAR | TERRA DAILY | MARS DAILY | SPACE MART | GPS DAILY | ENERGY DAILY |
 |
London - Apr 01, 2003 British independent rocket builder Starchaser Industries will publicly unveil their new "NOVA" rocket capsule this week in Hyde, Cheshire. The event will take place Thursday April 3 at the Village Hotel, Captain Clarke Road, Hyde, Cheshire, SK14 4QG. Weighing in at 200 kg and measuring 3 metres in length, the single seater Nova II capsule is being readied for shipment to the USA where it is to be fitted with a custom parachute system. The manned capsule will then be dropped from a C-123K transport aircraft at an altitude of 14,000 feet over the Red Lake Drop Zone Arizona, in order to practice landing the reusable craft. Once proven, the capsule will be attached to the Starchaser Nova rocket, which was first flown from Morecambe Bay in November 2001, for further unmanned tests followed by a manned launch to an altitude of at least 30,000 feet. NOVA II will become Britain's first manned rocket capsule and will test a variety of systems for use in project Thunderbird; Starchaser Industries entry into the US $10 million X-Prize which is on offer to the first non-governmental organisation capable of launching three people into space. Starchaser Industries Managing Director and test pilot Steve Bennett, a veteran of over 100 high altitude skydives said "We have proved the design of the rocket and capsule both on paper and in the air, it's now time to show the world that we mean business and move on to the manned phase of our rocket programme" The VILLAGE HOTEL, Hyde have made their fitness centre and sports trainers available to Starchaser Industries for the purpose of maintaining and improving Steve's level of physical fitness in preparation for the upcoming test flights. Related Links Starchaser Industries SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
XCOR Successfully Tests New Engine
Mojave - Apr 01, 2003Today XCOR Aerospace announced that it has successfully completed multiple test firings of their new LOX/kerosene rocket engine, the XR-4K5. The new engine is considerably more powerful than the previous isopropyl alcohol fueled rocket engine used in the EZ-Rocket. The new engine produces 1,800 pounds of thrust, and runs at two and a half times the chamber pressure of the previous engine.
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
