Private Space Company XCOR Lynx Spacecraft Nears Completion
Small Private Space Company XCOR is close to completing its spacecraft, Lynx, that will carry passengers to space for just $95,000. These passengers will be able to sit in the cockpit of the Lynx spacecraft. Passengers will be able to view the earth from over 330,000ft when the spacecraft blast off in 2016.
The spacecraft uses a reusable rocket propulsion system which enables it to execute a vertical take-off and landing.
According to the company, 'The XCOR Lynx suborbital spacecraft continues to make rapid progress towards final assembly,'
'Immediately after bonding the cockpit to the fuselage the shop crews set up for the delicate and precise operation of bonding the carry-through spar on to the rear end of the Lynx fuselage.
To correctly locate the spar, the Lynx rocket truss was temporarily removed from its own test stand and placed on the vehicle itself for the first time 'This was our Thanksgiving present,' says XCOR composites shop manager Jeff Smith.
'We applied the final glue layers on Wednesday just before the holiday, and removed the support equipment over the weekend. We're looking forward to the next big step, integration of the wing strakes onto the Lynx.' 'The carry-through spar is the heart of the loading structure on any winged craft – it supports the primary load of the wings and carries that load through the fuselage,' says XCOR CEO Jeff Greason.
'Attaching the spar on a composite vehicle is a one-way operation, so it has to be done right the first time.' 'We're really excited to have achieved this step. It paves the way for the strakes to be attached as the next step. 'Thanks to the hard work of the composites crew, we're proceeding at a very rapid pace toward first flight.'
Greason is convinced making space travel financially reasonable is the key to exploring the skies.
He said: 'We have to go a couple of levels deeper than passion.
When you look at the question of why it is so many years after we first went to space yet so little of it is being used, it's because it just costs too much. 'We have to do something to fundamentally reduce the cost before space becomes an economic good.
We looked at that problem and not having a billionaire writing your cheques, it had to be a money making proposition.' Passengers will put on white space suits two hours before boarding the spacecraft and embarking on the 30- to 50-minute flight. Randy Baker, a vice president at XCOR, said things move very quickly: 'There is just 15 seconds between lighting the engines and take off. Then 50 seconds after lighting the engines you go supersonic and very close to vertical and are pushed back in your seat.
Then three minutes after lighting the engines you are at 180,000ft.'
Greason continued: 'You are going more or less straight up at about Mach 3.
'Then the engines cut off and you have about a minute and a half of zero gravity as you coast up to our peak altitude of 350,000ft - then another minute and a half of coasting back down until there is enough atmosphere for the vehicle to feel it.'
He said re-entry then takes about a minute and the craft glides to land in approximately 20 minutes.
The spacecraft, which will be able to fly four times a day, seats just the pilot and the passenger will be expected to get involved during the adventure. They will be asked to perform tasks, such as reading instruments and making sure dials are holding steady. 'It's your flight so if there is some particular part of the earth that you want to look at we can steer the ship to look at the Grand Canyon or the area you find of most interest,' Baker added.
'Then you have time to look around and soak up being where so few have been before.'
The first model will take travellers 200,000ft above the Earth, but the company hopes the second model will reach 300,000ft and it will not be too long before they are ready to take to the skies and reach maximum altitude of 350,000ft.
'We expect to be in flight tests by the end of the year, after the first tests we won't know how long until we are ready to take the first passengers but my guess is six to 18 months. 'I think we will be flying participants by the end of next year but we don't like to put a date on things,' Baker said. There are also very few physical limitations, so even those in poor health may be able to travel.
'Some people cannot handle the excitement, some people are claustrophobic, so we take them in a high performance aeroplane to test if they have a psychological problem but in the broad sense, if you can on a rollercoaster, you can do this because the time you are doing it is short. 'It means people in ill health who want to do this while they still can are able to,' added Baker.
Via Mail Online
Follow on twitter @natezone14 for more updates and like our Facebook page ZephNate
According to the company, 'The XCOR Lynx suborbital spacecraft continues to make rapid progress towards final assembly,'
'Immediately after bonding the cockpit to the fuselage the shop crews set up for the delicate and precise operation of bonding the carry-through spar on to the rear end of the Lynx fuselage.
To correctly locate the spar, the Lynx rocket truss was temporarily removed from its own test stand and placed on the vehicle itself for the first time 'This was our Thanksgiving present,' says XCOR composites shop manager Jeff Smith.
'We applied the final glue layers on Wednesday just before the holiday, and removed the support equipment over the weekend. We're looking forward to the next big step, integration of the wing strakes onto the Lynx.' 'The carry-through spar is the heart of the loading structure on any winged craft – it supports the primary load of the wings and carries that load through the fuselage,' says XCOR CEO Jeff Greason.
'Attaching the spar on a composite vehicle is a one-way operation, so it has to be done right the first time.' 'We're really excited to have achieved this step. It paves the way for the strakes to be attached as the next step. 'Thanks to the hard work of the composites crew, we're proceeding at a very rapid pace toward first flight.'
Greason is convinced making space travel financially reasonable is the key to exploring the skies.
He said: 'We have to go a couple of levels deeper than passion.When you look at the question of why it is so many years after we first went to space yet so little of it is being used, it's because it just costs too much. 'We have to do something to fundamentally reduce the cost before space becomes an economic good.
We looked at that problem and not having a billionaire writing your cheques, it had to be a money making proposition.' Passengers will put on white space suits two hours before boarding the spacecraft and embarking on the 30- to 50-minute flight. Randy Baker, a vice president at XCOR, said things move very quickly: 'There is just 15 seconds between lighting the engines and take off. Then 50 seconds after lighting the engines you go supersonic and very close to vertical and are pushed back in your seat.
Then three minutes after lighting the engines you are at 180,000ft.'
Greason continued: 'You are going more or less straight up at about Mach 3.
'Then the engines cut off and you have about a minute and a half of zero gravity as you coast up to our peak altitude of 350,000ft - then another minute and a half of coasting back down until there is enough atmosphere for the vehicle to feel it.'
He said re-entry then takes about a minute and the craft glides to land in approximately 20 minutes.The spacecraft, which will be able to fly four times a day, seats just the pilot and the passenger will be expected to get involved during the adventure. They will be asked to perform tasks, such as reading instruments and making sure dials are holding steady. 'It's your flight so if there is some particular part of the earth that you want to look at we can steer the ship to look at the Grand Canyon or the area you find of most interest,' Baker added.
'Then you have time to look around and soak up being where so few have been before.'The first model will take travellers 200,000ft above the Earth, but the company hopes the second model will reach 300,000ft and it will not be too long before they are ready to take to the skies and reach maximum altitude of 350,000ft.
'We expect to be in flight tests by the end of the year, after the first tests we won't know how long until we are ready to take the first passengers but my guess is six to 18 months. 'I think we will be flying participants by the end of next year but we don't like to put a date on things,' Baker said. There are also very few physical limitations, so even those in poor health may be able to travel.
'Some people cannot handle the excitement, some people are claustrophobic, so we take them in a high performance aeroplane to test if they have a psychological problem but in the broad sense, if you can on a rollercoaster, you can do this because the time you are doing it is short. 'It means people in ill health who want to do this while they still can are able to,' added Baker.
Via Mail Online
Follow on twitter @natezone14 for more updates and like our Facebook page ZephNate
Private Space Company XCOR Lynx Spacecraft Nears Completion
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