Jul 22 2003
From The Space Library
Starchaser Industries Ltd., a British entry for the X-Prize competition, successfully tested its Nova 2 rocket capsule, dropping it from a Fairfield C 123K aircraft near Kingman, Arizona. Parachute expert Ted Strong piloted the capsule, which the aircraft had released at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Traveling at 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour), the craft deployed a 10-foot (3-meter) drogue parachute to stabilize its descent, and 5 seconds later, the pilot “oriented the capsule into a horizontal position” before deploying the main steerable canopy. The pilot flew the capsule like a glider to a precision landing. (Space.com, “X-Prize Entry Starchaser Successfully Test Drops Piloted Capsule,” 24 July 2003, http://www.space. com/businesstechnology/technology/starchaser_test_030424.html (accessed 12 January 2009).
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