First Human Arrow Plans 20 Mile High Flight
Garage inventor Brian Walker is out to prove that in the future, humans can be launched into space from the back of pick-up trucks. That is, if his Project RUSH (Rapid Up Super High) succeeds. His version of NASA’s Space Kennedy Center on wheels uses the crossbow principle.
WalkerÂ’s plan is to stretch a carbon-fiber bowstring 24 feet along a rail. After firing up his one-man space shuttle equipped with a jet turbine with 1,350 lbs of thrust (also self-designed), he hits the release trigger sending him hurtling into the sky.
To add the NASA touch to Project RUSH, Walter will be donning a $15,000 surplus Russian space suit for protection. Assuming he gets off the ground and reaches his intended cruising altitude, his inevitable freefall would be slowed down by a hydrogen peroxide propulsion system used in jet packs 50 years ago.
“I missed out on the opportunity to be the first private citizen to fly to the edge of space in a private rocket, so I decided to do something even more fun,” is Walker’s explanation for coming up with Project RUSH. “I can see a scenario where giant crossbows would accelerate skydivers upward creating a new kind of skydiving.”
Hmmm, Lance Bass could get his space wish after all.
Via Wired
Garage inventor Brian Walker is out to prove that in the future, humans can be launched into space from the back of pick-up trucks. That is, if his Project RUSH (Rapid Up Super High) succeeds. His version of NASA’s Space Kennedy Center on wheels uses the crossbow principle.
WalkerÂ’s plan is to stretch a carbon-fiber bowstring 24 feet along a rail. After firing up his one-man space shuttle equipped with a jet turbine with 1,350 lbs of thrust (also self-designed), he hits the release trigger sending him hurtling into the sky.
To add the NASA touch to Project RUSH, Walter will be donning a $15,000 surplus Russian space suit for protection. Assuming he gets off the ground and reaches his intended cruising altitude, his inevitable freefall would be slowed down by a hydrogen peroxide propulsion system used in jet packs 50 years ago.
“I missed out on the opportunity to be the first private citizen to fly to the edge of space in a private rocket, so I decided to do something even more fun,” is Walker’s explanation for coming up with Project RUSH. “I can see a scenario where giant crossbows would accelerate skydivers upward creating a new kind of skydiving.”
Hmmm, Lance Bass could get his space wish after all.
Via Wired
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