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Beyond the Space AgeDesignfax reader reflects on building team to privatize space by William G. Roeseler, In 1957, technology was defined as the stuff of aircraft, rockets and space, with a national priority on defending peace so we could enjoy a full generation of prosperity. I enrolled in that common vision by studying math and science at MIT and entering the engineering ranks at Boeing on the 747 Program in 1966. Top Guns were flying F-8s in Vietnam, and we were going to the moon. Now 42 years after Sputnik, we have enjoyed that generation of prosperity, and we are still looking to the stars for adventure and for solutions to some of the social problems that still linger. I use my PC almost daily to send a cup of rice to a starving child in Africa or Asia, thanks to the Hunger Page, the United Nations, and modern advertising technology. Popular technology has been redefined around a little box that sits on millions of desks around the world. Many of us now live in a world of virtual reality, where electronic games have captured the imagination of the youth like guns and swords once did when we were fighting for our very survival. The dream of popular space flight is still alive, but not like it was a generation ago prior to the PC. Virtual v. Reality Some of us still enjoy reality more than the virtual world of defense contracting and video games. A walk in the alpine meadows of Washington or a glider ride over the mating whales in Hawaii feeds my soul more than typing on this little keyboard on my desk at home. I look forward to the day, not long in the future, when I will be able to blast off into space in a private vehicle and see the sunrise above the curvature of the Earth. Dozens of small teams around the world are preparing X Prize vehicles with just that (and a $10 million purse) in mind, to put ordinary people in space without government support. Our Canyon Space Team hasbeen testing our liquid-fueled rocket motors in the wilderness around Seattle for the past two summers, and has recently tested a 1/2-scale rocket-propelled ground vehicle with several of my grandchildren. Citizens in Space Nearly two years ago, when we heard Peter Diamandes describe the X Prize at the Museum of Flight, I could see how the task of putting a private citizen in space without government support could fuel my lifelong dream of economical high speed flight. Others quickly joined in the process, and the Canyon Space Team was born. We quickly converged on pressure-fed rockets instead of the more difficult ramjet, and a winged vehicle related to the early rocket planes of the '50s and '60s took shape on our web page. Our simulations indicated that a 4000 lb vehicle with 2400 lbs of propellant could get to 100 km altitude, 328,000 ft, carrying a 600 lb payload, consisting of a pilot and ballast or two passengers, and could return safely to Earth. It would take 3000 lbs of thrust from the rocket engine, and the specific impulse would need to be at least 200 sec, easily within the capability of jet fuel and liquid oxygen. The 100 square foot wing would need to be stiff and strong enough to pull 3 gs during launch and recovery, or we would need an energetic cable tow and parafoil recovery assistance. Inspiration When we disclosed our plan to several retired Boeing executives who gave us a small grant from Flight Research Projects, one of them suggested that instead of using a deHavilland twin Otter or Boeing Chinook helicopter for air launch at 10,000 ft below 200 kts, we might consider using a 737 or better tow vehicle, which could get us above 300 kts above 30,000 ft, where there would be less atmosphere in our way as we blasted into space. Our core team of dreamers, builders, and planners continued to build and test control systems, engines, tanks, and vehicles, as we used technology to change the dreams into reality. Some of the parts came from the auto wrecking yard, and many came from the surplus stores up and down the West Coast. Commercial off-the-shelf materials came from WW Grainger, Aircraft Spruce, and many other popular suppliers to the homebuilt aircraft industry. The wheels for the 1/2 scale vehicle came from China, where the best bargains on thermoplastic hubs and pneumatic tires can be found. Space Specs As we look forward to our third year of planning and building for the X Prize, we are building a 1/4-scale flight vehicle based on the latest hybrid rockets for the home builder. The electronics, navigation, and low cost flight controls are taken from high end RC models and low end industrial UAVs. The cost and energy requirements are much less, and we can use a low cost catapult or conventional vertical launch rail instead of a 737 to get our first increment of velocity. The wing may be less than 25 square feet, and the total mass will be less than 600 lbs. Simulations to date indicate we should be able to get above M=1 with burn times below 20 sec. The specific impulse will be below 200, and we may use less than 300 lbs of propellant.
With just 100 lb of thrust for 15 sec, we could accelerate a 20 lb vehicle from sea level to burn out at M=1.1 at 10,000 ft. Controlled flyback recovery of the empty vehicle from apogee at 16,000 ft will present most of the challenges we will need to overcome in recovering our X Prize vehicle. The future of technology may well be in the microchip, and many of these chips will be in service in amateur flight vehicles at Oshkosh, where the annual EAA event has become the largest airshow in the world. The chips will appear in an increasing fleet of inhabited and uninhabited space craft, built by kids of all ages to explore the space around our tiny Earth. Like the 747s made the world smaller over the past 30 years, so, too, will the space tourism industry founded by the Canyon Space Team and others. Instead of limiting the joys of space flight to a few hundred government astronauts, we will expand the ranks of space travelers to families of all ages. This is the Future of Technology! For more information, contact: Canyon Space Team, Billy Roeseler, Seattle, WA, 425-820-9631, canyonspaceteam@hotmail.com, http://www.canyonspaceteam.org Circle 523. X Prize Foundation, 5050 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110. 314-533-2002. http://www.xprize.org Circle 524.
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