A man in Oregon wants to blast himself into space, and he's
got the means to do so.
Brian Walker, resident of Bend, Oregon, is building a rocket in his backyard so
that he can be the first private citizen in outer space.
He bought off-the-shelf rocket engines, a couple of parasails, and a lot of
hydrogen peroxide for fuel. He estimates that his rocket can get him up to 30
miles above the Earth's surface. Once all of the fuel burns up, the rocket
separates into two parts. The engines will deploy a parasail and be guided back
to the Earth by remote control from the ground. The capsule has its own separate
parasail which will be controlled by Brian himself, from inside the capsule.
With a Russian pressure suit and a lot of determination, Brian hopes to make the
flight sometime this summer.
