06 April 2008

Xcor Lynx Space Trips

I was looking into new holiday ideas few days ago when I stumbled upon a US company with something different to suggest for those out there who have taken one to many ordinary holidays. So, if all your holiday pictures start looking alike there might be light in the end of the tunnel.

Xcor Aerospace is a California based company planning to break into space tourism industry piloting a two-seat rocket capable of suborbital flights to altitudes more than 37 miles above the Earth. The space shuttle developed thoroughly by Xcor will be given the name Lynx reflecting its size of about a small private plane. Further details regarding design and technical characteristics have not been released in advance and everyone interested is looking forward to know a bit more.

Though Xcor has given away a few general information though, just enough to retain interest. So, we know Lynx is designed to take off normally from a common runway climbing up to 200,000 feet (37 miles) reaching a speed of Mach 2 in order to descend in a circling glide and back on Earth with a runway landing and it will be slightly bulkier but resembling few homemade jet designs.

Xcor CEO Mr. Jeff Greason stated that the vehicle is designed to operate much like a commercial aircraft providing in addition affordable space access for individuals and researchers while future versions are already in discussion including improved capabilities for research and commercial uses.

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