SpaceShipTwo could be astronaut instruction platform

A senior NASA official has enquired about becoming a customer for the future Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo, a sign the planned five-passenger spaceliner may have applications beyond the suborbital tourism market.

Chris Shank, NASA special assistant for space exploration, has contacted Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan to seek more information about the SpaceShipTwo concept, according to a knowledgeable source. NASA has a potential use for SpaceShipTwo as an advanced flight trainer for astronaut pilots and missions specialists, says the source. The agency's Space Shuttle crews now use a highly modified Gulfstream II Shuttle training aircraft to prepare for landings, and a fleet of Northrop T-38N Talons to provide flight proficiency training for pilots and navigation training for mission specialists.

Scaled Composites and X-Prize financier Paul Allen are now marketing SpaceShipTwo to prospective spacelines, such as the Virgin Galactic venture launched last year by Sir Richard Branson.

The enlarged version of SpaceShipOne is expected to debut in 2007. NASA dollars could provide a steady income stream for SpaceShipTwo as the space tourism market matures. NASA may appear an unlikely customer for Rutan, who is famous for public and sometimes profanity-laced tirades about the agency's risk-averse culture and spacefaring priorities. But several of Rutan's vehicles, including Proteus, are often leased to the agency for research missions.

Rutan rules out ac­cepting NASA's funding to launch or develop new vehicles. Last October, Rutan claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize by completing two manned suborbital flights in five days using the SpaceShipOne prototype, which is being delivered to Washington's Smithsonian museum in August for public display. The three-man SpaceShipOne is to be replaced by a five-seat model, sized to give passengers more freedom to enjoy the 4-6min period of weightlessness on suborbital flights.

STEPHEN TRIMBLE/WASHINGTON DC

Source: Flight International

Topics