Canadian manned space mission ready for launch, says team
Last Updated Fri, 06 Aug 2004 7:22:10
TORONTO - One of the Canadian teams vying to put a private manned
rocket into space this October rolled out its completed spacecraft
Thursday.
The Toronto-based da Vinci Project, one of two Canadian teams hoping
to win the $10-million US Ansari X Prize, unveiled its Wild Fire
spacecraft, as well as its new sponsor, an online casino.
The da Vinci Project, now known as the GoldenPalace.com Space Program,
is touting Wild Fire as not only a serious contender for the X Prize,
but also as Canada's first manned spacecraft.
"We're good to go," said project head and pilot Brian Feeney.
The team plans to launch Wild Fire from a base in Kindersley, Sask.,
on Oct. 2, 2004, just three days after American rival Spaceship One is
set to launch.
The Ansari X Prize is a $10-million US reward for the first
three-member team to launch a spacecraft to an altitude of 100
kilometres, return to Earth and repeat the flight within two weeks in
the same vehicle, without government or military funding.
The Wild Fire rocket unveiled at the project's Downsview hangar in
Toronto is a black cylinder about two metres in diameter with a
spherical cabin in front with round portholes. The spacecraft was
covered with its sponsor's logos.
The project plans to tether Wild Fire under a reusable helium balloon
which will take it to an altitude of nearly 25,000 metres.
>From there, Wild Fire's rocket engines will fire for about 75 second
and take the ship to an altitude of 115 kilometres.
The spacecraft will be in freefall for about two minutes before it
deploys its re-entry cone from underneath. An inflatable parachute,
called a ballute, will slow the craft during re-entry and a large
parachute will deploy at about 7,500 metres to carry Wild Fire to the
ground.
GoldenPalace.com is an online casino licensed by the gaming commission
of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, south of Montreal.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright � 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
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