Boeing And Mcdonnell Douglas Team Up, Join The Race To Put A Tourist In Space
Tourists weary of the same, old Earth could soon start making vacation plans for space.
The Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas are one of three teams competing to develop a space ferry to fly commercial cargo, including tourists, to a space station located about 210 miles above the Earth.
The trip would cost about $1,000 a pound, or about $150,000 for a 150-pound person, the companies estimate. It presently costs about $5,000 to $12,000 a pound to lift material into space.
“At that price, business and economic analysts get excited about its prospects,” said Livingston Holder Jr., deputy program manager at Boeing.
The Boeing-McDonnell Douglas team has selected a configuration for a test vehicle that would take off and land vertically. The two other teams have chosen designs that take off vertically, but glide to a landing, much like the space shuttle.
The proposed Boeing and Mcdonnell Douglas test vehicle would be computer-driven and might not even need a pilot.
The spacecraft would go at least 25,000 mph to break out of the Earth’s gravity, arriving at the space station within a few minutes. Boeing is the prime contractor for the space station.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is guiding the research program, called the X-33, to develop technology for the reusable vehicle which airlines could feasibly operate.
Researchers say the first flight could occur by 2005 and that tourist and commercial use is possible by 2010.
The team to design, make and test the model may be chosen next year, and a decision to go ahead with an operational vehicle could come as early as 1999.
The other teams include Rockwell and Lockheed Corp., and Martin Marietta (now merged with Lockheed), Rocketdyne and Rohr Inc. Those teams have selected test Space ferry/vehicles that fly like airplanes.
Boeing officials refused to say how many people are working on the project, or what it is costing.
The rocket would be more practical than the costly and cumbersome space shuttle for scientific and medical testing, communications and tourist use, Holder said. Researchers are studying new propulsion methods and lightweight and heat-resistant materials that could be used.
McDonnell Douglas has made seven test flights with its DC-X demonstrator, which also takes off and lands vertically. On its most recent test, the craft rose to 5,700 feet on a flight of just over two minutes on June 12.