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Rocket Racing League?!?

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  • Rocket Racing League?!?

    From Slashdot.org. MSNBC reports a 'Rocket Racing League' is launching today. The man behind the $10 million X Prize for private spaceflight is joining forces with a venture capitalist who is also an Indy car backer to establish a NASCAR-like racing league for rocket-powered aircraft." The Rocket Racing League also has an official website which outlines some of the specifics behind the program.
    I am the Mouse

  • #2
    Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

    Oh boy...I can HARDLY wait......

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    • #3
      Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

      What got me is that it says that it is in partnership with RARA.
      I am the Mouse

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      • #4
        Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

        I can see the enviromentalists now with all those rocket plumes spewing out behind these rigs
        blacksheep
        Life's a Climb , But the view is Great

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        • #5
          Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

          I am not a skeptic, but even I say not a chance.
          _________
          -Matt
          Red Bull has no earthly idea what "air racing" is.

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          • #6
            Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

            Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................

            I wonder if #75 is available! RG
            Warlock #75, Steve Ballard, Al "Papa" Goss
            RIP 03/17/10

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            • #7
              Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

              Originally posted by RandyGoss75
              Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................

              I wonder if #75 is available! RG
              Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?????

              Rocket-powered Shoestring!!!!!

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              • #8
                Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                Instead of "Gentlemen, you have a race", all contestants will be required by the rules to say, "Hold ma beer and watch this..."

                Don

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                • #9
                  Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                  Originally posted by RandyGoss75
                  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................

                  I wonder if #75 is available! RG
                  Ok, you provide the Shoestring, and I'll talk the guys out of that ME-163 motor I told you about......

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                  • #10
                    Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                    "Spectators could be provided with palm-size computer displays to follow the competitors, Whitelaw said.

                    Viewers at home could watch the racers zoom neck-and-neck on a video overlay."

                    This is what Reno needs.
                    Stevo

                    Blue Thunder Air Racing
                    My Photos
                    My Ride

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                    • #11
                      Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                      Originally posted by Stevo
                      "Spectators could be provided with palm-size computer displays to follow the competitors, Whitelaw said.

                      Viewers at home could watch the racers zoom neck-and-neck on a video overlay."

                      This is what Reno needs.
                      and I'd like to see who's going to cover the cost for THAT one......

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                      • #12
                        Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                        Originally posted by speeddemon
                        and I'd like to see who's going to cover the cost for THAT one......
                        They'll just have to take a bigger cut from the race teams trying to sell shirts.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                          It's not going to make for much of a spectator sport with race courses set up 5000+ feet overhead....Sounds interesting though....

                          There's a good descriptive article about it at Newscientist.com:

                          Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.



                          The league has been created by Peter Diamandis - the man behind the $10-million Ansari X-Prize which was awarded in 2004 for the first private, piloted space vehicle - Indy 500 team owner Granger Whitelaw and others. The Rocket Racing League plans to build 10 racing rockets, which would be financed, owned and customised by individual teams for a series of annual races.

                          The space-age Formula One vehicles will be based on a rocketplane designed and demonstrated by California-based XCOR Aerospace, called the EZ Rocket (a modified Long-EZ). The first race is scheduled for a year from now in New Mexico.

                          The new vehicles will not in fact reach space, or even break the sound barrier. But they will demonstrate the power of rocket-driven aircraft, accelerating rapidly and performing high-G-force turns. The engines, powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, will emit bright 20-foot plumes of flame that will make the flights easily visible to spectators watching from the ground a mile below.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                            An you think the unlimiteds are hard to cover.....
                            Bill Garnett
                            InterstellarDust
                            Air Race Fanatic since 1965

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                            • #15
                              Re: Rocket Racing League?!?

                              So let me get this straight... they want to take a batch of 20-year old (at least in design) long-EZs, convert them to rocket power, and race them from stadiums? Did I miss anything? Oh, right, they will provide each spectator with a palm-sized monitor on which to watch the race. Methinks this Diamandis character is trying to exploit Mr. Rutan a bit further.

                              Honestly, charging a quarter-million for a 10-minute suborbital space ride sounds like a much better business plan, in my (fairly humble) opinion.
                              _________
                              -Matt
                              Red Bull has no earthly idea what "air racing" is.

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