Xprize runner: Da Vinci and the Wild Fire Rocket
Oct 17, 2004 10: 59 EST
The space race goes on. Rockets are getting ready to launch and news are expected soon from many of them. Before the countdown, let’s take a look at some of the most amazing teams in this adventure race for space.
“History is filled with the exploits of ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things and whose accomplishments propel human progress. We are people driven by the simple desire to participate and contribute to the true renaissance of Man in space.”
Those are the introductory words of Brian Feeney, creator of the Canadian-based Da Vinci Project.
Da Vinci is perhaps one of the most unconventional teams in the ANSARI X PRIZE competition. Funded by a Native Indian Casino, Its Wild Fire rocket will be launched not from ground level, but from 80,000 feet up, carried there by a reusable helium balloon. 500 volunteers have contributed over 100,000 man-hours so far. Team leader Brian Feeney says it's the largest volunteer project in Canadian history. The Da Vinci Project is also known as the Golden Palace.com Space Project, in honor of its new sponsor - an internet casino.
Brian Feeney, a true Renaissance man, plans not only to do the ‘brain work’, but also to pilot the first flight of the Wild Fire rocket. The strategy is to have the spacecraft float to an altitude of about 24,380 meters under a large helium balloon. Once it reaches its peak altitude, rockets will thrust it into space.
”The entire planet's population will no longer see itself as bound to just one planet," he said. But there have been glitches and several postponed dates. The first launch was put on hold, because hardware was stuck in a Toronto warehouse.
Organizers have said they still plan to launch, even though the $10 million US has since been won by an American space venture. This week, the da Vinci project's leader of ground operations, David Grossman, will attend a public meeting to regain some of the confidence lost because of the delay. But it's not expected that Grossman will announce a launch date.
"Hopefully it just wasn't a bunch of talk and no action," said one of the disappointed volunteers. But Grossman says his team is still set on making it to space no matter how many detractors there are:
"We'll launch when the safety issues have been addressed and we have a high probability of success," he said.
Image of Feeney working on the prototype, courtesy of the ad Vinci Project.
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