As I recall, Dick said something about Edwards and China Lake both tracking it
on radar. At best, that might give you a hundred meter accuracy.

A radar altimeter at 63 miles is a hell of a feat AND subject to severe angle
errors. I'd probably rely on GPS. As Dick indicated, two feet is about the
resolution you can get with a regular old GPS (unenhanced). That is my bet.

Jim


Todd Pattist
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-I set my Tivo to record the CNN coverage and Dick Rutan
-mentioned that there were two tracking stations monitoring
-the flight that could verify altitude to about "this far"
-and he held his hands about 2 feet apart. I "think" he said
-they were optical tracking stations. I presume there's
-another form of on-board altimeter for measuring low
-pressure or perhaps a radar altimeter.


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com