SpaceShipOne Rocket Science: Reaching for Space with Rubber Fuel

Posted on: Jun. 17th, 2004 || Source: space.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

For SpaceShipOne, reaching space takes three things: a pilot, a spacecraft, and enough to propellant to rocket away from Earth.



But the fuel in SpaceShipOne's tank is about as exotic as the spacecraft's design. SpaceShipOne, set to be the first non-governmental crewed vehicle to reach space, uses a combination of rubber and nitrous oxide -- also known as laughing gas -- as the powerhouse for test flights and an anticipated suborbital spaceshot set for June 21.

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