Scaled Composites honored by Popular Science Magazine
Second Mojave firm honored in two years
BY BILL DEAVER
MOJAVE - For the second year in a row, a business at Mojave Airport has been honored by Popular Science magazine for its role in advancing science.
Scaled Composites has been honored by the magazine in its "Best of What's New" feature in its December issue with the top award in the space and aviation category.
Last year, XCOR Aerospace at Mojave Airport was honored by Popular Science in the magazine's "Top 100 Tech Innovations" for its efforts to develop more efficient rocket engines.
Headed by internationally-recognized aviation innovator Burt Rutan, Scaled was honored for its efforts to create and fly a vehicle into space and back to a landing at Mojave airport.
The company's SpaceShipOne vehicle, designed, built, and flown by Scaled at Mojave Airport, is launched from WhiteKnight, a launch aircraft also designed and built by Scaled.
SpaceShipOne is designed to be launched from WhiteKnight and, powered by a rocket engine, reach an altitude of 100 kilometers above the earth, 62.5 miles.
The vehicle then returns to a landing at Mojave Airport as a glider. During the return, SpaceShipOne's tail section rises vertically to help slow the vehicle during its return from sapce.
Test program
After being unveiled to the public at a rollout at the airport April 18th, SpaceShipOne has flown several times, incrementally expanding the flight test envelope. The test program has been marked by the company's genius for innovation, as exemplified recently by a decision to "flight test" test of a new tail design that used a Ford F-100 pickup to "fly" the new design up and down the Mojave Airport runway.
Asked about the award, Rutan said he believes the company was selected because the SpaceShipOne project was the most innovative aerospace program during 2003.
Previous awards
The honor for SpaceShipOne is the first time Scaled has won the top award in its category, but four of its projects have been honored in previous years.
Those projects include Proteus, AT-3, ARES, and Triumph.
Over the years, Scaled and Rutan have been awarded numerous other honors and have been featured in magazine articles and on television programs. Monday, CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien was in Mojave interviewing Rutan about SpaceShipOne for a special to be aired Dec, 17th on the anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight.
Rutan said the January issue of Popular Science will include a feature on the aircraft Scaled is building for Virgin Atlantic CEO Richard Branson's effort to fly around the world unrefueled with a single pilot. In 1986, Voyager, an airplane designed by Rutan and flown by his brother Dick and Jeana Yeager became the first aircraft to circumnavigate the world without refueling.
Locally, Rutan played a key role in convincing the East Kern Airport
District to add a restaurant to Mojave Airport, a venture that has proved
successful both as an eatery and a magnet for attracting visitors to the
airport and community. He and his wife Tonya are active in the community
and operate Camelot Golf Course.
More California City News Events
California City Economic Development Corporation Homepage
Check out California City the best known secret in the High Desert!!!!!!!!