posted 09-26-2006 10:07 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Greggy_D:
I have two rings and one of my business cards on this flight.

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Bill Heiden, Connecticut-based UP Aerospace's chief financial officer, said that UP crews could not get within six miles (10 kilometers) of the rocket by vehicle, and will have to walk into the area and figure out how to get the rocket out.

"I would be surprised if we get word today" that the rocket was recovered, he said. Heiden said the effort will continue until the experiment payload it was carrying is removed from the desert.

Heiden said the company will start removing the payload once it is found and return it to the customers.

UP Aerospace officials said Monday they would make every effort to put the payload on the next flight if the backers of the experiments are interested.

posted 10-05-2006 04:06 PM               

It has been 10 days since the inaugural flight of the ZGS-1 capsule aboard the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft rocket from the New Mexico Space Port. Most of the team has now returned from the desert. This report will provide you what we know at this time about the flight.

The following were major events during the day of the flight (Sept 25th, 2006):

• 04:30 the launch crew arrived to put the rocket into final preparation for space flight, intended time to fly was 07:30

• 06:15 the launch director indicated there were issues with the primary C-band transponder, and it would need to be replaced.

• 11:15 the launch director indicated the vehicle was ready to fly, and the launch window would be 2:00

• 14:15 the rocket was launched from the space port, the first flight out of the New Mexico Space Port

Then, approx. 13 seconds into the flight, an anomaly was observed as the rocket 'kinked' and started to spiral upwards. The actual cause of this failure is not yet known. What we do know is that this failure occurred at 24,000ft AGL, and at very high speeds. The condition of the rocket after this event is unknown. The rocket continued upwards to 42,000 ft AGL before returning to the ground miles downrange, and impacted the desert in a remote location. The C-band transponder tracked the return trajectory to 2,000 ft above the desert.

The launch crew was very disappointed as this flight had been tested many, many different ways. They embarked on a recovery mission which took them a long time due to the rough terrain.

The vehicle and the ZGS-1 Space Capsule has been recovered, and personnel from ZG Aerospace will be taking inventory of the condition of the contents in the next 72 hours. At this time we do not know the condition of the items inside, or if all the items remained in the capsule during the crash. As soon as we know the answer to these questions we will inform all customers.

We are all sad to have not reached our goal of space. However, we are all participants in the expansion of mankind's endeavor to reach space and you were all part of this historic flight. UP Aerospace does not consider this flight a total failure because of the fact it was the first step towards space from the first consumer space port in the world. This flight will be part of the history books as we look at the time when our planet began in earnest to reach out to the stars.

Many of you have asked what will happen next. We will recover all the items we can from the ZGS-1 capsule, tag them, and place them in the space registry with a classification as 'attempted' in the space flight column. You will get an email from the space registry to that effect when it is placed into the registry. We will then send the items back to you.

As far as replacement flights are concerned, UP Aerospace is not providing any replacement flights for its partners, which is part of the reason ZG Aerospace is not providing replacement flights either. We did not purchase insurance for a second flight, and neither did any of our customers, so next flight options are limited. ZG Aerospace is working to determine how a second flight can be funded, but no determinations have been reached there yet. If a second ZGS flight is funded, any participation will be via paid boarding pass as was the case with the first flight.

Thanks for your support. This has been a trying time for all of us here at ZG Aerospace, and for each of you. Stay tuned for more information as we get it.

posted 10-06-2006 09:54 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Greggy_D:
OK....I think this is a bunch of junk since the items were advertised as "going into space", which did NOT happen. What would you do?

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