GSC Update

*Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites is ready to attempt it's first flight for the X-Prize with "SpaceShipOne" (already sucessfully tested earlier) on Wednesday. This leaves the launch window for the required repeat flight from October 4th to the 13th. The 10 million dollar prize is given to the first privately funded spacecraft able to launch three humans to the edge of space (62.5 miles or 100km), return safely, and repeat in two weeks or less. The competition ends this year, even as the leading competition, Canada's volunteer "Wild Fire Mark VI" delays for repairs and testing. Prize money for competition has been a crucial part of aviation history, including prizes in the days of the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh.

"Just remember- no bucks, no Buck Rogers"
-Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

*A large asteroid by the name of Toutatis (about 2.9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide and shaped roughly like a dumbbell) will pass by the Earth this week at a distance of about 1,000,000 miles (roughly 4x the distance to the moon). While there is no chance of collision or damage, the asteroid is passing relatively close by celestial standards. Extremely small and moving quickly across the sky, Southern Hemisphere viewers stand the best chance to catch a glimpse on Sept. 29th, and Northern viewers may catch a glimpse in early October.

*After a record four hurricanes in one month, Florida's Space Coast begins cleanup and repairs to the aging infrastructure around Kennedy Space Center, built in the 1960s. Hardest hit was the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) where the components of the Space Shuttle (and earlier, the Apollo Saturn V rocket) are assembled, or "stacked." Missing panels and minor flood damage seem to have been the worst damage sustained by the complex, but the three weeks of work missed because of the storms could affect the return to flight status of the shuttles early next year.

As always, information from Space.com
"Something Amazing Everyday"