Images: Rocket racers ready for blastoff

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  • racing

    racing

    Peter Diamandis, founder of the Ansari X Prize that awarded $10 million to the first private craft to twice reach 100 kilometers, launched the Rocket Racing League on Oct. 3, 2005. The rocket planes, or X-Racers, will compete on a course two miles long, one mile wide and about 5,000 feet in altitude--right over the spectators.

    The first race is scheduled for September 2006. Competitions will then be held throughout the United States at air shows and auto races with pilots vying for the X Prize Cup, which will awarded at a final race, in New Mexico in 2007.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Commander Searfoss

    Commander Searfoss

    Col. Rick Searfoss, former space shuttle commander and three-time astronaut, will serve as the chief pilot of the Rocket Racing League. He will fly the EZ-Rocket X-Racer prototype Oct. 9, 2005, at the X Prize Cup in Las Cruces, N.M.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • engine

    engine

    Here's a look at the engine in the EZ-Rocket X-Racer prototype. X-Racers will shoot a 20-foot rocket plume to make themselves more visible to spectators.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • real racer in flight

    real racer in flight

    A look at the X-Racer prototype in flight. Pilots will fly a course based on Grand Prix automobile racing, except it will feature long straightaways, vertical ascents and deep banks.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • rocket tunnel

    rocket tunnel

    Each pilot will have a virtual "tunnel," or space track, to follow, and will use GPS navigation systems to keep a few hundred feet away from other planes.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • rear view

    rear view

    The rear view of the X-Racer.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • runway

    runway

    X-Racers will take off either in a staggered formation or side by side.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • dogfight

    dogfight

    The Rocket Racing Association hopes for heated competition, which fans can track on large-screen televisions and handheld GPS tracking devices. Spectators will receive streaming video of the cockpit, side-by-side views and wing-angle views.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Space Adventure

    Space Adventure

    The founders have modeled rocket racing after auto racing. Wings could be used to sell advertising space similar to the way Nascar vehicles are used to market sponsors' products. The first Rocket Racing League video game is scheduled for release in 2007.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • black racer

    black racer

    Here's an artist's concept of what an X-Racer would look like.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • red and white

    red and white

    Colorful X-Racers should be easy to spot.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • wings

    wings

    If the league becomes a success, X-Racer drawings will appear in countless notebook margins during boring lectures.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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black racer

Here's an artist's concept of what an X-Racer would look like.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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