- A rocket belonging to a team taking a low-budget stab
at the $10m (£5.7m) Ansari X-prize has exploded less than 1,000 feet
into the air.
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- Nobody was hurt in the test which took place on Sunday
just south of Olympic National Park in Washington State, US.
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- Rubicon 1, which is seven metres (23 feet) long and 96cm
(38 inches) in diameter, held three dummies simulating the weight of astronauts.
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- It was hoped Rubicon 1 would reach 6,000m and supersonic
speeds.
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- The rocket, which crashed about 60 metres (200 feet)
from lift-off after its parachute failed to deploy, will have to be completely
rebuilt, said Eric Meier, co-founder of Space Transport Corporation - the
team behind the attempt.
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- Investment call
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- "We need to raise some more money...fix our problems
and launch another low-altitude flight as soon as possible," Meier
told the Associated Press.
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- "It's a learning experience to be expected when
you're developing a vehicle with [these kinds] of capabilities."
-
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- X-prize competitor SpaceShipOne, built by aviation pioneer
Burt Rutan, became the first privately-funded manned spacecraft to reach
space when it flew to 100.12km (328,491ft) on 21 June. Another 25 teams
across the world are competing for the prize, which awards the first team
to send a three-person craft over 100km (62 miles), and repeat the feat
in the same craft within two weeks.
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- Rubicon 1 cost $20,000 (£10,800) to build, but
Mr Meier said he hoped the relatively low cost of the spacecraft would
make raising the money to build another rocket a little easier.
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- The partners of Space Transport Corporation have invested
about $100,000 (£54,000) of their own funds in the company.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3549552.stm
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