da Vinci Project still racing to space

Just got off the phone with Brian Feeney, head of the GoldenPalace.com Space Program Powered by the da Vinci Project (say that 10 times real fast).

This is an all-volunteer effort out of Toronto to launch Feeney into suborbital space aboard a space capsule and booster rocket combo from the bottom of a high altitude balloon.

For a while last year it looked like Feeney might be Rutan's only competition for the X Prize, with a license from the Canadian government to launch on October 2, just two days before what turned out to be Rutan's final X Prize winning flight. It was not to be, but Feeney got himself a lot of press that way because everyone loves a good race story.

Brian tells me he and two other members of his team will be at the X Prize Cup this October 6-9 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, along with the actual space capsule "in tow," not a mockup. He also pointed out that the da Vinci Project web site has been completely redesigned, and updated with information about the group's orbital space plans.

Feeney and the da Vinci Project were part of discussions earlier this year to help form the New Mexico Spaceport Authority now being formed. More on that exciting project in a later post. Stay tuned...