Rules Set for $50 Million ‘America’s Space Prize’

8 Nov, 2004 at 10:14pm ET Article published in Tech

The ground rules have been laid for the next iteration of ‘America’s Space Prize’.

Anyone who wants to follow in the shoes of Burt Rutan and win the next big space prize will have to build a spacecraft capable of taking a crew of no fewer than five people to an altitude of 400 kilometers and complete two orbits of the Earth at that altitude. Then they have to repeat that accomplishment within 60 days. While the first flight must demonstrate only the ability to carry five crew members, the winner will have to take at least five people up on the second flight. And one more thing. They have to do it by Jan. 10, 2010.

Source: Space News

Comments

8 Nov 2004 ~ 11:06pm Sputnik [22:55:20] Greg: "4 The spacecraft must dock or demonstrate its ability to dock with a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable space habitat, and be capable of remaining on station at least six (6) months"
[22:55:20] Greg: that's kinda lame
8 Nov 2004 ~ 11:07pm Sputnik (above)
what a friend of mine pointed out to me

have to agree with him there
9 Nov 2004 ~ 12:00am Leonardo Just think: one of our grandchildren will invent the first warp drive, he/she will be observed flashing in warp by the Vulcans....

The rest is history --- in the future.
9 Nov 2004 ~ 12:14am Thrax So, which one of us has the surname of Cochrane?
10 Nov 2004 ~ 12:05am Access_Denied johnny?