ANN Will Be There To Cover The Event... In REALTIME
XCOR Aerospace, Inc.
has announced that the company will conduct multiple flight tests
of the EZ-Rocket during the weekend of October 6-9 at the inaugural
Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP in New Mexico. Flights will take place
between 11am and 5pm at the Las Cruces International Airport.
Piloting the EZ-Rocket during its several demonstration flights
will be Col. Richard A. Searfoss ret. USAF, a former NASA Astronaut
and Chief Judge (as well as one of the coolest guys we know...) of
the Ansari X PRIZE.
"This is a marvelous chance for people to get up close and
personal with rocket powered vehicles," said XCOR President Jeff
Greason.
"If the new start-up launch industries, with the encouragement
of such organizations as the X PRIZE CUP, can continue on our
present course, there is no reason why such flights cannot become
routine."
The EZ-Rocket, a
modified Long-EZ airplane, is powered by two liquid-fuel engines,
which have been designed, tested and built by XCOR Aerospace. "The
EZ-Rocket is just a demonstrator, but it is also a crowd-pleaser,"
continued Greason.
"We flew it twice at AirVenture 2002, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and
we are very pleased to bring the vehicle out of retirement for the
Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP."
"The purpose of the Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP is to showcase
the future of flight. This vehicle has helped pave the way to that
future," said Mike Kelly, VP Operations for the X PRIZE CUP.
"We couldn't be more excited to have XCOR and the EZ-Rocket
coming to New Mexico to fly."
XCOR Aerospace, a California corporation located in Mojave,
develops and produces safe, reliable, and reusable rocket engines
and rocket-powered vehicles.
Based on the success of
the Ansari X PRIZE, The X PRIZE Foundation has partnered with the
state of New Mexico to present the X PRIZE CUP & PERSONAL
SPACEFLIGHT EXPO, an annual event in Southern New Mexico. The
Foundation will also assist in the development of the state's
Southwestern Regional Spaceport.
The 2005 Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP activities, scheduled for
October 6-9, includes a public symposium on the future of
spaceflight at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces on October
6th; educational and public activities at the New Mexico Museum of
Space History in Alamogordo on October 7-8; and a Personal
Spaceflight Expo at the Las Cruces International Airport on October
9th from 11a-5p.
Beginning in 2006, the X PRIZE CUP & PERSONAL SPACEFLIGHT
EXPO will be a week-long series of space-related events and
launches.