 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
XCOR EZ-Rocket Tests In-Flight Engine Ignition
Mojave - Jan 25, 2002 XCOR Aerospace continued the EZ-Rocket test program with a test flight Thursday demonstrating shut down and restart of the rocket engines during flight. The 6 minute 57 second flight took place at the Mojave Civilian Test Flight Center in Mojave, CA, after the previously scheduled attempt on January 22 was scrubbed due to high winds. Today's flight was piloted by Mike Melvill, a highly experienced test pilot assisting XCOR. Melvill said: "It gives you a great feeling of confidence to reach down, flip the switch on, and feel the kick as the engine lights." The flight took off under rocket power and climbed rapidly to 5,000 feet, where Melvill leveled off while Dick Rutan, Chief Test Pilot for XCOR Aerospace, flying the chase plane, caught up with the EZ-Rocket. With the chase plane in position, Melvill shut down one rocket engine for 19 seconds and then re-started the engine. The second engine was shut down for 10 seconds and was also successfully re-started. The EZ-Rocket climbed to 8,100 feet before propellant exhaustion after 2 minutes, 18 seconds of powered flight. The eighth flight of the EZ-Rocket concluded with a perfect power-off landing. XCOR CEO and President Jeff Greason stated: "From XCOR's beginning, we have been guided by the vision of rocket operations being as routine as any other form of transportation. Pulling the EZ-Rocket from its hangar, conducting the flight, and towing back to its hangar only took 1 hour, 15 minutes. Today's smooth ground operation and flawless in-flight rocket engine shutdown and restart show that we're getting there." XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and re-usable rocket engines. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Current Test Results In Detail and More at XCOR SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
Successful First Test For Vega's Zefiro 9 Engine
Paris, France(ESA) Dec 28, 2005Flames, smoke and a deafening noise accompanied the first firing test of Vega's Zefiro 9 third-stage solid rocket motor. A first examination of the data indicates that everything went well at the test carried out yesterday at Salto de Quirra in southeast Sardinia. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
