All images from CopenhagenSuborbitals.com

The 'HEAT' booster and the one-man spacecraft from Copenhagen Suborbitals

(4 pix) 

 Did I really just say 'Go Denmark'? That's never happened before. Not that I'm anti Denmark or anything, I've just never felt the need to cheer them on... especially since I've gotten a good idea of how many calories they hide inside those in the oh-so-delicious pastry thingys they've been tempting us with. But, after getting a load of what Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen have been working on for the last 5 years or so with their non-profit, donation funded and volunteer supported space quest called Copenhagen Suborbitals, I'm cheering the little Scandinavian country on.

 The rocket illustrated above is their current generation booster called HEAT, for Hybrid Exo Atmospheric Transporter, with their MSC (micro space craft) called Tycho Brahe taking up about the top third of the rocket system. The one-man MSC has a glass globe top that will allow the occupant a pretty fabulous view of the ride, which might help to keep extreme claustrophobia from setting in since the whole package is just over 24 inches in diameter. From what I can tell, the basic goal with this project is the simplest and least expensive way of being able to say you went to space. It looks like it might make the Virgin Galactic operation seem like a mission to Mars by comparison, but it will still be a pretty amazing accomplishment if they can pull it all off. Actually, both space systems are designed to achieve a height that's a little over 100 km in altitude, which is often considered the edge of space, and translates to over 328,000 feet. But the Copenhagen Suborbitals ride will more like a hyper (galactic?) rollercoaster ride than a more traditional space journey.

The approximately 30' long rocket with crash test dummy in the MSC (micro space craft)

 They have a launch of the HEAT-1X booster scheduled for a couple days from now on August 30th, tho the launch window is actually set for August 30 thru September 13, 2010. I don't know if there will be any live coverage of this unmanned test flight, but you might wanna keep in touch with CopenhagenSuborbitals.com just in case... currently, there's a countdown clock on the main page. It's also important to note that this test flight is intended to go no higher than 30 km or about 100,000 feet, and that's not into space.