The da Vinci Project was a privately funded, volunteer-staffed attempt to launch a reusable manned suborbital spacecraft. It was formed in 1996 specifically to be a contender for the Ansari X PRIZE for the first non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. The project was based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and led by Brian Feeney.
The original da Vinci Project is no longer operating. A documentary was filmed throughout much of the project's life from 2000 through post-XPRIZE roundup footage in 2008. The documentary accumulated some 1000 hours or so of footage. It was a private undertaking by Michel Jones of Riverstone Productions, Toronto, and as of early 2009 was still in a preliminary stage of editing and completion.
The project participated in the X PRIZE Cup 2005, displaying a mock-up of its Wild Fire MK Vl spacecraft. In early 2006 it was decided to reorganize the manned spaceflight effort as well as develop a new winged spacecraft design. A new brand and commercial venture was developed - DreamSpace Group - built on the foundations of the da Vinci Project.
At XPRIZE Cup 2006 a new preliminary manned suborbital space tourism craft design, designated the XF1, was unveiled. Design and engineering work has continued since, with a stated intention to unveil the first full scale XF1 flight demonstrator some time in 2010.
Contents |
The da Vinci Project was staffed by a revolving group of volunteers, more than 600 in all by project's end in 2006. At its most active, the team maintained a normal strength of 20-30. Brian Feeney established the project in 1996 to compete for the international X PRIZE Competition. The core of the team was located in Toronto, Canada with Engineering and Ground Operation Teams located across Canada and around the world.
The project's design was a rocket-powered spacecraft to be air-launched from a helium balloon at an altitude of about 21 km (65,000 ft). The project scope included design and construction of both the spacecraft and the launching balloon. The chosen design can be described as a manned rockoon.
The spacecraft design, Wild Fire, was predominantly cylindrical, with a diameter of 2.00 m and overall length of 8.00 m. It had a crew capsule at one end, rocket motor at the other, and propellant tanks between.
The crew capsule was spherical, with a diameter of 1.98 m. It was intended to accommodate three humans in a pressurised atmosphere, but the crew would also wear pressure suits. The capsule would separate from the remainder of the craft in the course of a normal reentry, and if necessary could also separate during some emergency scenarios. It was designed to carry 2 small high-speed parachutes and 2 primary recovery parachutes made by Ballistic Recovery Systems . There were six large windows covering the front half of the capsule.
The spacecraft was designed to use a hybrid rocket engine, with solid paraffin fuel and liquid nitrous oxide oxidiser.
There was also a cold gas reaction control system, using cold gas nitrogen propellant.
The craft used an INS (Inertial Navigation System) autopilot and could also be flown manually through activation of the RCS system.
In the original design, during reentry, the vehicle deployed a ballute, an inflated conical balloon intended to make the vehicle aerodynamically stable, provide drag, and act as a heat shield. The ballute would remain inflated until landing, where it would cushion the impact. Between 7 km and 3 km altitude the vehicle would also deploy a parafoil, which would be used both to slow descent and to steer toward the landing zone. There would also be a backup parachute for the spacecraft, in addition to a separate parachute for the separable crew capsule.
By 2003, the design had been revised to a simpler pattern: the ballute concept was abandoned, and the crew capsule and propulsion stage would separate and independently descend with parachutes.
The DVP vehicle was called Wild Fire MKVI and was designed to carry three people to an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 mi) and return them to the Earth. The entire launch system was comprised of two parts: the rocket and an unmanned reusable helium balloon which lifted the rocket to altitude before the rocket engines were fired. Guidance would be accomplished through an integrated GPS/INS system combined with the RCS (Reaction Control System).
A single hybrid rocket engine was used on the Wild Fire MKVI, burning nitrous oxide and solid paraffin fuel in a pressure fed system to generate 80,000 newtons (18,000 pounds) of thrust. The rocket engines, the entire propulsion subsystem, and the flight guidance system were designed and developed by the DVP propulsion in-house team in Canada, but never underwent a full-scale test.
Vehicle ascent
One of the necessary launch criteria was government approval for flight and corresponding launch insurance. The da Vinci Project was the second private group in the world to receive a government approval for a manned suborbital flight to space - the XPRIZE competitor Scaled Composites being the first. The permit was issued by Transport Canada just one day after the FAA announced the issuance of a suborbital spaceflight permit to Scaled Composites. Months later the project put in place the required 3rd party flight insurance. All documents were filed with the XPRIZE Foundation to meet competition criteria. As of April 4, 2009 the da Vinci Project and Scaled Composites remain the only two private groups in the world to have achieved this milestone.
The rocket was intended to be tethered to the world’s largest fully reusable helium balloon. The ascent sequence starts with ground launch of the helium balloon, with the DVP rocket tethered 250 meters (820 ft) below the base of the balloon at a 75-degree up angle. After approximately one-and-a-half hours, the rocket would arrive at a launch altitude of 19,800 meters (65,000 ft). Following a series of launch procedures, a 120 second computer controlled automatic countdown sequence would be initiated, followed by engine ignition. Immediately on engine start the rocket would release from the balloon tether, and for the next 8 seconds the vehicle would fly at a 75 degree angle trajectory. The RCS would change the trajectory of the rocket to 90 degrees (straight up) for the remainder of flight.
Main engine cut off would occur at 63 kilometres (39 miles), at a maximum acceleration of 3.5 g (34 m/s²), and following a total engine burn time of 90 seconds. The speed would be approximately Mach 3.5, after which the rocket continues up to apogee on a ballistic trajectory. At 85 kilometres (53 miles) altitude the capsule would separate from the propulsion section, and at 110 kilometres (68 miles) would begin free fall for 105 seconds - total zero g time about 3 minutes 30 seconds.
Fifteen seconds after apogee is reached, at 85 kilometres (278,900 ft), the capsule would separate from the propulsion section. Both the capsule and propulsion section would have passive static aerodynamic stability during reentry. Drogue parachutes would be deployed at 12 kilometres (40,000 ft) on both pieces of hardware, followed by main parachute deployments at 3 kilometres (10,000 ft). Both the capsule and propulsion section would deploy their reentry shields separately, prior to ground landing, and act as air cushions (in a similar fashion to Mercury capsules of the early 1960s).
The balloon was intended to be helium-filled, and fully reusable. Its designed volume fully inflated was approximately 113 154 m³ (4 million cu ft). The material was polyethylene measuring 4.5 mils (110 µm) in thickness. The balloon's net weight was approximately 1 818 kg (4,000 lb). The volume of helium needed to carry the weight of the balloon plus spacecraft to the 19 8000 m (65,000 ft) launch altitude was approx. 6 200 m³, creating some 7 595 kg (16,700 lb) of gross lift. The tether system between the base of the balloon and rocket was a 250 m (820 ft) lightweight spectra fiber cord (also known under the name Dyneema). The 12.7 mm (0.5 in) diameter tether cord weighed 45.5 kg (100 lb) yet had a breaking strength of 155 kN (35,000 lbf).
The project was established in 1996. It is named after Leonardo da Vinci, who, among innumerable other inventions, was the first recorded person to design an aircraft. The project was staffed entirely by volunteers.
The project unveiled a mockup of their spacecraft, Wild Fire, on August 5, 2004 at a hangar at Downsview Airport in Toronto. At this point, it was considered a contender for the Ansari X PRIZE, and Tier One had just given notice of their planned competitive flights. When announcing the unveiling, the da Vinci Project also appealed for funds to fly Wild Fire. An agreement was reached with GoldenPalace.com, and the project subsequently gave the required 60 day notice that they would make Ansari X PRIZE competitive flights.
The da Vinci Project initially announced that it would fly first on October 2, 2004, launching from Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This was only three days after the first expected X PRIZE flight, by Scaled Composites, on September 29, 2004. However, on September 23, 2004 the da Vinci project announced that they would not be ready. Scaled Composites won the X PRIZE on October 4, 2004.
The da Vinci Project successfully test fired a scaled-down hybrid engine in late 2004. Hybrid rocket engine testing continued into 2005. The project's main focus though through 2005 was working toward completion of the main spacecraft flight aero structure and capsule. This was largely completed in October 2005 and displayed publicly along with a full-scale representation of the 18,000 lbs thrust hybrid rocket engine at the 2005 XPRIZE Cup in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
With the initial XPRIZE over the da Vinci Project was left without a clear mission. In early 2006, a decision was taken to develop a new spacecraft design that would be better suited to cost-effective commercial suborbital space tourism operations. The rocket engine of choice was a bi-propellant liquid engine rather than the hybrid rocket engine that had been previously worked on. A new brand and commercial venture was developed in 2006 - DreamSpace Group - and was built on the foundations of the da Vinci Project.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
   | SpaceShipOne and Wild Fire to Go For the Gold - SPACE.com -- The Next Great Space Race: SpaceShipOne and Wild Fire to Go For the Gold |
| | BBC News article: Second team goes for space prize - BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Second team goes for space prize |
| | SPACE.com article: Canadian X Prize Team Delays Launch Attempt - SPACE.com -- Canadian X Prize Team Delays Launch Attempt |
|
|
Wikis
Map
Search
