Date: 13 Jul 1993 06:42:14 -0500 From: hvanderbilt@bix.com Subject: DC-X attendance misinfo Newsgroups: sci.space -Subject: Gaubatz talk on DC-X -From: reeder@reed.edu (P. Douglas Reeder) -Date: 11 Jul 93 09:21:07 GMT -Highlights of Dr. William Gaubatz's talk on the DC-X at OMSI -presented by the Oregon L-5 Society on 10 July 1993 -by P. Douglas Reeder [material omitted for brevity] - The first series of test flights is projected to begin -sometime between the 23rd and 28th of July at White Sands -Missile Range. The exact date should be known a week or so -in advance. The public is invited, but you must make -reservations in advance, because of White Sands security -restrictions. The tests will be carried on NASA Select, if -the scheduling works out. Static firing tests have been -completed, but now the equipment must be moved over a -mountain to the flight range and checked out, there are -other groups using White Sands, and thunderstorms are -severe, if infrequent. [material omitted for brevity] -*** This ends the information from Dr. Gaubatz
The majority of this posting is to the best of my knowledge factual, and for that matter quite informative. Unfortunately, the information about public attendance being allowed at the first flight test series is incorrect, according to various sources at McDonnell Douglas and elsewhere, including Dr Gaubatz, the DC-X Program Director. The first ("bunny-hop") series of stability tests due in late July will be closed to everyone not part of the test crew. No VIP's, no media, and no public -- not nobody, not nohow. WSMR is a military reservation and they will not be letting any outsiders in, nor will trying to make advance reservations do anything but waste your time and theirs.
There will be press coverage and VIP invites to the start of the second test flight series, in early to mid August, but there will still be no admission of the general public. Live NASA Select video coverage will depend on the flight timing, as there may or may not be conflicts with other NASA broadcasts. Commercial TV coverage both local and national is also expected, but the details are of course up to the stations and networks involved.
Dr Gaubatz says that he may have given the wrong impression in discussing who controls access to White Sands Missile Range, by the way, and he apologizes for any confusion caused.
To amplify on Henry Spencer's later posting, both July 29th and August 9th are target dates, not firm schedules. Either or both could change considerably, depending on circumstances. The actual dates won't be set until a couple days beforehand; keep an eye on here for details when they're available if you have to make plans.
Henry Vanderbilt "Reach low orbit and you're halfway to anywhere Executive Director, in the Solar System." Space Access Society - Robert A. Heinlein hvanderbilt@bix.com "You can't get there from here." 602 431-9283 voice/fax - Anonymous