Ascender Project - Briefing No.3  

• Orbital Flight, Anyone?

  Want to know about other Bristol Spaceplanes' vehicles? What will BSP be doing after Ascender?

• Space Dreamers

  Why bother to make a spaceplane? Learn the logic behind Ascender.

• Something for the Weekend?

  Need something for Christmas? Show your support for Britain's most exciting space project.

• Write On

  The Ascender Project wants you - have your say on the club, ask a question.

As those of you receiving the printed or email editions will see, Bristol Spaceplanes have extensively redesigned the Ascender Project Briefing. The briefing keeps you, the members, up to date with the latest developments of the Ascender Spaceplane. We shall also discuss current space projects and historical missions. Have a question? Write in and it could feature as a topic for discussion.

This is sent out by e-mail or by snail mail if preferred. Distribution by e-mail, rather than a hard copy, allows more revenue to be allocated to Ascender. Please let us know if you would like to receive an e-mail version. The file size for this Briefing is approximately 890kb.

Be warned, however, we may not be able to keep to our self-imposed deadlines of a quarterly publication. As you can imagine, there will be design issues to attend to, hardware testing to be completed, and project planning, and more planning. To reflect this, membership shall run for 4 Briefings - rather than for 1 calendar year.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the new look Ascender Project Briefing. The Ascender Project has been redeveloped over the past few months to offer a higher quality service as well as keeping you abreast of the latest Ascender developments.

All current members are being offered an extension on their current membership for an additional year to take advantage of the redesigned Ascender Project. This also means that you will be entered into two Spaceflight draws - two chances to win the Trip of a Lifetime.

BSP are also producing a number of high quality merchandise products - just in time for Christmas, more details on page 4.

Enjoy this Briefing and remember to recruit your friends and family to the Ascender Project. Remember the only thing holding back the development of the Ascender Spaceplane is the lack of funding - something that you can have a direct influence on.

David Ashford, Managing Director Bristol Spaceplanes

Perhaps the major point of the Ascender Project is the opportunity to win the chance to fly into space as an Ascender astronaut. The lucky winner of the Spaceflight Draw shall be awarded a sub-orbital Ascender flight. A note of caution - the prize is subject to suitable medical and operational restrictions as well as the funding of the Ascender spaceplane.

These tickets will be worth an incredible amount of money. Space Adventures, the US-based firm who negotiated Tito's flight to the ISS, are currently accepting sub-orbital bookings for $98,000. Clearly the price of a private manned spaceflight mission will rise as the day draws near, as demand shall rapidly exceed supply.

We shall be bringing you the results of the Spaceflight Draw in the next issue of the Ascender Project Briefing. Fingers crossed.