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Feature Story — January/February 2005

X Prize spaceflights draw students out of the classroom and onto a page of history

By Laura Weisskopf Bleill

On a brisk, windy California desert morning last fall, a group of Illinois students and alumni bore witness to history — perhaps this generation's most significant moment in the heavens.

The Sept. 29 successful launch of SpaceShipOne, the commercially built manned spacecraft, marked what could be the watershed event in the future of space tourism and human space exploration.

More than 30 University of Illinois students and alumni journeyed to Mojave, Calif., to answer a call for volunteers to help ensure the launch went as smoothly for spectators on the ground as it did in the air. Their reward was a front-row seat to history, as SpaceShip-One reached suborbital space and then landed safely. On that day, SpaceShipOne completed the first of two required flights in its quest to win the Ansari X Prize, a competition that offered $10 million to galvanize the development of a civilian space travel industry.

"It's not exactly like the Apollo of our time because it's such a small operation, but at the same time it feels as if it has the same sort of impact for us," said Kirk Kittell '03 ENG, a graduate student in the University's Department of Aerospace Engineering and the force behind the group's travels. "The fact that we got our hands on the thing by helping out, I think that made us feel that we were more a part of history. Rather than just witnesses, we were participants."

SpaceShipOne, above, nestles beneath the wing of its tow plane, the White Knight, as they taxi for takeoff in Mojave, Calif., last September. At far left on opposite page, a camera on the back of SpaceShipOne provided streaming video of the flight.

Those participants helped out by directing parking and working in the VIP tent, checking people in and handing out water. The group met a "who's who" of the alternative and mainstream space industries, greeting them with Illinois pins and hats. No other university supplied anywhere near the number of volunteers or attendees.

The volunteer response — from so many students from his home state and those who had attended his campus lecture last spring — moved Gregg Maryniak, the executive director of the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation, which sponsored the competition. He wore an orange-and-blue Illinois Space Society pin at the first post-launch news conference.

The trip to Mojave for the 34 UI participants was a lesson in networking, perseverance and dedication. Last year, Kittell co-founded Illinois Space Society, a student group that is the University's chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. One of the group's first events was a lecture by Maryniak.

So when Kittell found out the X Prize staff was seeking volunteers, the central Illinois native was determined to bring an Illini presence to the event. But he never expected the huge interest he witnessed when, at its first meeting of the fall semester, the group announced its intentions to head West.

"Opportunities like that don't come up often," said Elizabeth Bozek, a freshman aerospace engineering major from Park Ridge.

The students' enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed. "I was impressed that that many students recognized the significance of the event that they took time off from school at a very busy part of the semester," said UI aerospace engineering professor Victoria Coverstone '85 ENG, MS '86 ENG, PHD '92 ENG, who wanted to attend, as well, but had a prior commitment.

"I think they'll use this as their own personal inspiration to stay in the field, to stay focused and not let the day-to-day setbacks (get them down)," she said. "They've all got this vision, as many of the faculty in the department had."

Opportunity of a lifetime

The group had two weeks to plan the first trip. Financial help from the Engineering Council and SORF, the Student Organization Resource Fund, plus a group rate on American Airlines helped keep out-of-pocket expenses to $100 each for the first launch. Eight participants, using their own funds, returned to Mojave for the second launch five days later. It was after the second successful SpaceShipOne flight that the X Prize feat was achieved — two flights to outer space within two weeks.

Illini interest went beyond current students. Julia Laystrom '99 ENG, MS '04 ENG, of CU Aerospace in Champaign traveled to Mojave for both launches "without hesitation," she said, and despite a hectic schedule. Once at the launch, Laystrom said a woman at the VIP tent called out "I-L-L" and received a heartfelt "I-N-I" in response.

The milestone moment lured many to Mojave.

"People of my parents' age always ask, 'Where were you July 20, 1969?'" said junior aerospace engineering major Mark Schaeffer of the day when astronauts first landed on the moon. Schaeffer, a member of the ISS executive board, said, "Both of my parents can tell me exactly. They remember it as if it was yesterday.

"And I wanted to be able to say I was there. I was there Sept. 29. I was there Oct. 4. I saw it in the sky; I didn't watch it on TV or hear it on the radio. I saw it with my eyes in the sky above me. That to me was the biggest motivation to go, was just to be there. It's important to me because I really have a passion for spaceflight."

The first launch provided more suspense than anyone expected. The ascent toward space included some tense moments for the crowd when SpaceShipOne went into a corkscrew motion. The plane was brought under control and reached a plateau more than 62.5 miles above Earth, the internationally recognized boundary of outer space.

"Watching it take off, it's a really beautiful plane," Kittell said of the two crafts. "It doesn't look like a real airplane. You don't understand how big it is until you see it up close. The takeoff was real cool.

"Seeing people cheer at an airplane launch is funny, like it's at a baseball game," he said. "There's nerds like us all over the place, I guess."

Photo by: Adrien Muller