A rocket scientist at Salford University in Greater Manchester hopes that his rocket, the Nova 2, Britain's biggest-ever space rocket, will help Britain to cross the final frontier in 2013....
Toothpaste technician turned rocket engineer could help UK cross the final frontier
By Fiona Macrae
01st July 2008
Daily Mail
It may not quite meet NASA's exacting specifications, but this homemade rocket could help Britain cross the final frontier.
Nova 2's inventor Steve Bennett, a toothpaste technician turned rocket scientist, believes it holds the key to blasting tourists into space within just five years.
Not only that, but the Salford scientist is quietly confident of winning the race to launch the first space tourism business - beating off a host of billionaire rivals including Sir Richard Branson.
Enlarge
'The Nova 2' at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester, on Monday. Inventor Steve Bennett hopes to blast off next year
He said: 'They have got more money than us - but we have got the experience in launching rockets.
'I think we can just about do it. It is not about what you spend, it is how you spend it.'
Nova 2 can reach 120,000ft in just three minutes, and the next generation will aim to reach the 62mile border between atmosphere and space
Competition is not the only hurdle to be crossed before Mr Bennett, a lecturer in physics and space technology, takes a leap into the unknown.
For one, he is in desperate need of funding, being £7million short of the £11million needed for his space mission.
Then there is the small matter of a launching pad, with a proposed purpose-built 'spaceport' in the US still little more than a building site.
The 43-year-old father-of-two also has to overcome his critics, who dismissed him as an eccentric dreamer when one of his devices set Dartmoor ablaze on crashing just seconds after lift-off in 1998.
For now, he will concentrate his efforts on Nova 2, which became Britain's largest space rocket when it was unveiled at Salford University on Tuesday.
Nova 2 is said to be capable of shooting to 120, 000ft - around three times the cruising altitude of an aeroplane - in just over three minutes.
Weighing in at just over one tonne and 57 foot long, the rocket is due to make its first test flight - an unmanned voyage which will focus on safety - in September next year.
Likely venues include the otherworldly Morecambe Bay in the north-west of England.
Mr Bennett said: 'There's open space, it is inaccessible, so you don't have people walking about.
'And the tide comes in twice a day, so if something burns, the water will soon put it out.'
If the launch is successful, a more powerful daughter rocket could be blasting tourists into space by 2013.
Enlarge
If all goes well, Steve Bennett hopes to reach space in 2013
Designed to fly at 3,500mph, the 17-tonne Thunderstar will take 23 minutes to travel 62miles (100km) - the point at which space begins - and return to Earth.
The three-seater capsule will fall back to Earth with the aid of nothing more sophisticated than a pair of giant parachutes.
Two Britons have already signed up for what could be the first amateur space flight, paying £250,000 for the voyage which will include a brief taste of weightlessness.
The mission will be piloted by Mr Bennett, whose interest in space travel was fired in boyhood by the Thunderbirds TV series and the moon landings.
He said: 'We will go straight up and straight down.
'It will be like a roller coaster ride, except a little bit more powerful.
'You will see the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space and we are looking at about four minutes of weightlessness.
'For many years, it was just a dream. But every day I get a little bit closer.'
dailymail.co.uk
Toothpaste technician turned rocket engineer could help UK cross the final frontier
By Fiona Macrae
01st July 2008
Daily Mail
It may not quite meet NASA's exacting specifications, but this homemade rocket could help Britain cross the final frontier.
Nova 2's inventor Steve Bennett, a toothpaste technician turned rocket scientist, believes it holds the key to blasting tourists into space within just five years.
Not only that, but the Salford scientist is quietly confident of winning the race to launch the first space tourism business - beating off a host of billionaire rivals including Sir Richard Branson.
Enlarge
'The Nova 2' at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester, on Monday. Inventor Steve Bennett hopes to blast off next year
He said: 'They have got more money than us - but we have got the experience in launching rockets.
'I think we can just about do it. It is not about what you spend, it is how you spend it.'
Nova 2 can reach 120,000ft in just three minutes, and the next generation will aim to reach the 62mile border between atmosphere and space
Competition is not the only hurdle to be crossed before Mr Bennett, a lecturer in physics and space technology, takes a leap into the unknown.
For one, he is in desperate need of funding, being £7million short of the £11million needed for his space mission.
Then there is the small matter of a launching pad, with a proposed purpose-built 'spaceport' in the US still little more than a building site.
The 43-year-old father-of-two also has to overcome his critics, who dismissed him as an eccentric dreamer when one of his devices set Dartmoor ablaze on crashing just seconds after lift-off in 1998.
For now, he will concentrate his efforts on Nova 2, which became Britain's largest space rocket when it was unveiled at Salford University on Tuesday.
Nova 2 is said to be capable of shooting to 120, 000ft - around three times the cruising altitude of an aeroplane - in just over three minutes.
Weighing in at just over one tonne and 57 foot long, the rocket is due to make its first test flight - an unmanned voyage which will focus on safety - in September next year.
Likely venues include the otherworldly Morecambe Bay in the north-west of England.
Mr Bennett said: 'There's open space, it is inaccessible, so you don't have people walking about.
'And the tide comes in twice a day, so if something burns, the water will soon put it out.'
If the launch is successful, a more powerful daughter rocket could be blasting tourists into space by 2013.
Enlarge
If all goes well, Steve Bennett hopes to reach space in 2013
Designed to fly at 3,500mph, the 17-tonne Thunderstar will take 23 minutes to travel 62miles (100km) - the point at which space begins - and return to Earth.
The three-seater capsule will fall back to Earth with the aid of nothing more sophisticated than a pair of giant parachutes.
Two Britons have already signed up for what could be the first amateur space flight, paying £250,000 for the voyage which will include a brief taste of weightlessness.
The mission will be piloted by Mr Bennett, whose interest in space travel was fired in boyhood by the Thunderbirds TV series and the moon landings.
He said: 'We will go straight up and straight down.
'It will be like a roller coaster ride, except a little bit more powerful.
'You will see the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space and we are looking at about four minutes of weightlessness.
'For many years, it was just a dream. But every day I get a little bit closer.'
dailymail.co.uk