rockets

Rocket Racing League Is One Step Closer To Reality

I've been writing about the plans for the Rocket Racing League for over three years but it looks like the new sports league is one step closer to reality. The Rocket Racing League, which seeks to create a Nascar in the sky with multiple races and up to 10 Rocket Racers taking to the sky on a closed circuit raceway, has been granted an Experimental Exhibition Certificate from the FAA for their next generation rocket racer. As Aero-News reports this is especially significant because it is the first time in the FAA's history that a production level rocket-powered aircraft has been cleared to perform exhibition flight demonstrations at over 20 venues across the U.S.

The Rocket Racing League has locked up a fancy sponsor, DKNY for men and their ship is called the DKNY Bridenstine Rocket Racer vehicle. It was built on a Velocity Aircraft airframe and equipped with a liquid oxygen and alcohol engine manufactured by Armadillo Aerospace. The league plans to hold a 2009 Exhibition season followed by the first official race season in 2010. The league will choose eight venues out of the possible 20 approved locations.

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Tags: racing, rocket racing league, RocketRacingLeague, rockets, sports

EADS Plans Space Tourism Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The aircraft above may look a bit like a normal airplane but it is actually a space jet outfitted with rocket engines. EADS Astrium unveiled plans for the jet, which is designed for space tourism, last week and plans to show off a full-scale model at the air show in Paris this week. The jet will take passengers into weightless flight more than 62 miles above the Earth. The first flight is scheduled for 2012 and tickets are expected to cost $199,000 to $265,000. A ticket buys you three minutes of weightlessness and the chance to gaze down on the Earth and is part of a burgeoning space travel boom that includes major players such as Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.

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Tags: astrium, eads, expire-images:2008-6-17, rockets, space, space jet, space tourism, weightlessness

Erik Lindbergh Sculpture

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

As might be suspected of anyone with the last name of Lindbergh, Erik Lindbergh is a Renaissance man. Aero-News Network has a piece on the man who is a pilot, philanthropist and artist. Lindbergh, who has flown a Columbia 350 across the Atlantic and is part of theRocket Racing League also works in wood and other materials to create limited edition sculptures. He creates many different pieces but particularly interesting are his rockets and planes. The Timecapsule Rocket, shown here is six feet tall and has a removable plug at the bottom to store artifacts or cremated remains. The rocket is a limited edition of 25 and sells for $9,850.

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Tags: lindbergh, rockets, sculpture, space