LAUNCH's November/December issue shipping now.

LAUNCH Magazine unveiled an exclusive cover story on Rocketplane Global's improved suborbital spacecraft at the X-PRIZE Cup exhibition in New Mexico this past weekend. The magazine's November/December details the previously secret modifications that Rocketplane has made to its XP vehicle, designed to ferry tourists into suborbital space. The magazine was given unprecedented advance access to the redesigned Rocketplane XP plans.

In a joint news conference with LAUNCH, Rocketplane Global unveiled the new design for the XP on Friday. On hand was former Space Shuttle astronaut John Herrington, Rocketplane's lead pilot. More than 100 reporters covering the news conference were given copies of the new issue of LAUNCH. And later, thousands of copies were distributed during the X PRIZE expo—which drew more than 50,000 spectators over three days at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, N.M.

The issue also includes:

• An in-depth interview with Scott Carpenter, one of only two surviving Mercury 7 astronauts. In the 6,000-word interview conducted at his home in Vail, Colorado, Carpenter looks back at the flight of his Aurora 7 spacecraft and responds to criticism of his mission from Mercury Flight Director Chris Kraft.
• Model rocketeer Bob Sanford delivers an excellent look at the history of Enerjet motors and kits. This is the first article to ever chronicle the unique history of Enerjet, which became the precursor to today's high-power hobby rocketry.
• The magazine also features coverage of NARAM-49, the National Association of Rocketry's annual meet, held in Delton, Michigan.
• LAUNCH was also on-hand when the Space Shuttle Endeavour took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station. Coverage is featured in the November/December issue.
• Rocketplane Global article preview, Scott Carpenter articles preview, Energet article preview, Asteroids article preview (Adobe PDFs)

And coming next in LAUNCH's January/February issue: Comprehensive coverage of BALLS16, a major high power and experimental rocketry launch at Nevada's Black Rock Dry Lake; a history of hybrid motors from AeroTech's Gary Rosenfield; coverage of the X PRIZE Cup in New Mexico; the restoration of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Saturn V in Huntsville, AL; a look at Sirius Rocketry's Saturn V model; the 50th anniversary of Explorer 1 (America's first satellite in space); and much more.

LAUNCH is available by subscription and can be found in many Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores, and also at various hobby shops across America. For more details, visit http://www.launchmagonline.com/.

10-30-2007 10:49 PM  #1
jsdemar NAR/TRA L3   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 350	Quote: Read the full article. Here are some photo I took: http://www.flickr.com/phot...tions/72157602790157662/