First amateur manned space launch coming soon?

[a_lost_packet_]

Is this a typo?

SDC-Private Danish Rocket to Launch Mock Astronaut Tuesday[/url]":1iwqumr7] ...The $70,000 effort funded by private sponsors and donations includes the capsule, booster and an offshore launch platform. ..

Seventy grand? That's it? If for 70k you can officially be declared an "astronaut" (or, whatever the civilian version would be) then that's pretty cheap!

 

[Smersh]

Well according to the article in Universe Today I posted in the op, today (Aug 30th) is the date for the test launch at 1300 GMT. However, on the Copenhagen Suborbitals website homepage here, the following schedule is given, as I write:

Launch window: Aug 30 - Sep 17, 2010
Possible date, Launch platform to Bornholm: Tue Aug 31 (75%)
Possible launch date of HEAT-1X-Tycho Brahe: Thu Sep 02 (40%)

And here's the submarine they'll be launching from (as far as I can make out) :

:shock:

 

[alpha_centauri]

Yeah, apparently delayed because of the high winds over the last few days.

And they'll be launching from the floating platform, not the submarine! (though that would be epic :lol: ) That is the submarine they built themselves, they'll use it to tow the platform.

 

[Smersh]

... And they'll be launching from the floating platform, not the submarine! (though that would be epic :lol: ) That is the submarine they built themselves, they'll use it to tow the platform.

Ah ok alpha_centauri thanks for the clarification. I knew they had a sea-launch site in the Baltic and thought of the submarine which as you suggest, would have been quite something. The floating platform looks a little more stable! If the sea is calm enough and for long enough I guess it should work. Let's hope so ...

 

[samkent]

They are saying 19 miles. I don’t know if that’s just the first test or if subsequent flights will go much higher. But 19 miles doesn’t qualify as astronaut.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/private-danish-rocket-dummy-suborbital-space-100827.html

 

[alpha_centauri]

The floating platform looks a little more stable! If the sea is calm enough and for long enough I guess it should work. Let's hope so ...

Yeah I was wondering about that, not sure how it's going to cope stability-wise at launch.

They are saying 19 miles. I don’t know if that’s just the first test or if subsequent flights will go much higher. But 19 miles doesn’t qualify as astronaut.

As they say on their website,

DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT READ IN THE NEWS,
THIS IS A TEST ROCKET FLYING TO A MAX OF 30 KM
(NOT INTO SPACE)

This is just the first of a series of unmanned tests.

 

[EarthlingX]

Launch has been moved to Thursday :
http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/index.php :

Possible launch date of HEAT-1X-Tycho Brahe: Thu Sep 02 (40%)

 

[Smersh]

Per above link given by EarthlingX, the latest update is the test launch is now scheduled for Sat Sep 04. (50%.)

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/index.php

LAUNCHING TODAY AT APP 10 UTC, SUN 5, 2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk : Danish rocketeers go for lift-off

5 September 2010
Last updated at 08:19 GMT

A team of Danish rocket enthusiasts is set to launch a dummy 30km into the sky as part of its quest to develop a private space launch system.

The Copenhagen Suborbitals group will set off its DIY vehicle from a restricted military test area near Bornholm island in the Baltic Sea.

The man-sized dummy is strapped inside a pressurised, tubular capsule.

When the team is satisfied the system is safe, real human passengers will be blasted into space.

"We're not going to change the dummy for a real person until we've seen the rocket fly to the final height, the final apogee; and many times so we can feel secure about riding it ourselves," said Kristian von Bengtson from the Copenhagen Suborbitals group.

"That may take more than three years; it may take less than 10 years - it's difficult to say because we're not trying to kill ourselves here; we're just having fun. We'll do it when we're ready to do it," he told BBC News.

 

[vattas]

No launch on Sunday:

BBC article

When Sunday's countdown reached zero, a puff of smoke was seen from the rocket but nothing happened.
A subsequent inspection found a valve controlling the flow of very cold, liquid oxygen to the motor had frozen up.
No further attempt to would be made to launch on Sunday, the rocketeers said.

 

[Yuri_Armstrong]

Too bad they couldn't get it to launch. Being in that thing would be pretty scary though... at least in a shuttle or soyuz you have a nice big space to feel secure in. Who has the testicular fortitude to be the first man to go up in that thing :shock:

 

[Smersh]

... Who has the testicular fortitude to be the first man to go up in that thing :shock:

Indeed. I certainly wouldn't that's for sure. Anyway it sounds from the latest report it might be years before they feel comfortable with sending up a human in it.

Pity the test launch failed.

 

[Yuri_Armstrong]

... Who has the testicular fortitude to be the first man to go up in that thing :shock:

Indeed. I certainly wouldn't that's for sure. Anyway it sounds from the latest report it might be years before they feel comfortable with sending up a human in it.

Pity the test launch failed.

I would love to go. I'm just wondering who they are going to send up that thing as the guinea pig. Will private companies be hiring private astronauts for future missions? They will need someone to fly their ships after all.

 

[Smersh]

I would love to go. I'm just wondering who they are going to send up that thing as the guinea pig. Will private companies be hiring private astronauts for future missions? They will need someone to fly their ships after all.

According to the original report I posted from Universe Today, Peter Madsen, one of the founders of Copenhagen Suborbitals (and possibly the guy in that picture sliding into the tube, not sure) has volunteered and is keen to go up in it as soon as possible. Whether that would still be the case in a few years time or not (if that's how long it takes) of course remains to be seen.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Yeah, that "puff of smoke" thing isn't good news when you're sitting on a device that makes a controlled explosion

 

[matthewota]

WIth the passenger in a standing position like that he will black out due to the g forces. NASA and the USSR learned about this over 50 years ago. That is why all manned spaceflight couches in use today have the men on their backs.

 

[darkenfast]

The issue of G-forces in a vertical position is addressed on their website. They appear to know what they are doing, but frankly, if it doesn't work it I seriously doubt that it will have any effect on on commercial space. The sky will not fall.

 

[matthewota]

(MSC) Tycho Brahe-1

the more I look at the (MSC) Tycho Brahe-1 project the more I worry about the safety of the passenger. I believe the design is basically flawed as a valid manned vehicle since the passenger is positioned vertically inside the cabin area.
It seems likely to me that the passenger will at minimum black out due to the high acceleration during boost, and at worst even die from oxygen/blood starvation in the brain.
http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/spacecraft.php

 

[darkenfast]

They say on their website that the rocket will produce less than 3 g's. This is well within the limits that a reasonably fit person can withstand without loss-of-consciousness (5 g's without g-suit). Boost is supposed to last about 60 seconds.

 

[scottb50]

Hair Dryer Glitch Pushes Private Danish Rocket Launch to 2011

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology ... t=My+Yahoo

A powerless hair dryer was apparently to blame for thwarting the debut launch of a privately built Danish rocket, pushing the novel booster's first flight back to sometime in June 2011.

The maiden launch of the Tycho Brahe space capsule, which has room for a human pilot to half-sit, half-stand in it, was to have carried a test dummy almost 19 miles (30 km) into the upper atmosphere on Sunday (Sept. 12). The capsule rested atop the Hybrid Exo Atmospheric Transporter 1X, or HEAT-1X, rocket, from a launch platform floating in the Baltic Sea.

Probably got clogged up with lint and tripped the breaker. I guess if it works it's a good idea.

 

[MeteorWayne]

I'm beginning to think this is a bad April Fool's joke.

And BTW, the thread title is inaccurate. 30 km is not a "space" launch, it's just a rocket launch.

 

[Smersh]

... And BTW, the thread title is inaccurate. 30 km is not a "space" launch, it's just a rocket launch.

Yes I think that's already been pointed out Wayne. In fact on the website they did say that the initial launches wouldn't count as "space launches" because they were only going up to 30km. It's the media (as usual,) which has been hyping it up as a "space launch," even Universe Today it seems.

However, on the website at the moment it says this:

Welcome to Copenhagen Suborbitals
Our mission is very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space.
This is a non-profit suborbital space endeavor lead by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen,
based entirely on sponsors and volunteers.

http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/

Also on that homepage btw, are some links to various photo galleries of the failed test launch attempt.

 

[Smersh]

I'm beginning to think this is a bad April Fool's joke ...

Having given this a little thought Wayne, I can see your point, I really can (even though it isn't April, but I can see what you mean.) The submarine, the photo of the guy sliding into the tube they tell us will be his vehicle for going up into the upper atmosphere and beyond, etc etc. It does all seem at least a little whacky I have to agree.

I can't understand what the motive for such an elaborate (and pretty expensive I should think) joke would be, but is anyone else here beginning to have doubts about this? Or have had their doubts from the outset?

You're the moderator Wayne so of course it's entirely up to you, but if you think this thread ought to go in the Unexplained section (at least until we have more evidence it's not a joke and of course it could always be moved back at some point) I won't argue with that.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Naaah, I just said it seems like an April Fools joke, not that it was. We will see what the future brings

But really, a busted hair dryer delays your launch by 6 months??? :roll: :lol:

 

[Smersh]

Yes, the submarine, the tube AND the hair dryer !! :shock:

:lol: