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Mike Melvill Chosen To Fly SpaceShipOne
ansimon writes "Mike Melvill is chosen to fly SpaceShipOne to the outer limits of this rock that we call earth. Mike will be the first to earn his astronaut wings with a privately-developed aeroplane/rocket. A new era of space exploration is about to begin! Godspeed and come back safe, so the rest of us can go too..."
They will not win the X-Prize tommorow and they most likely will not win it in the nearest future.
The X-Prize is for 2 manned launches with the equivalent of 3 persons mass within 2 weeks.
Tommorow's flight is 1 person and less ballast mass and AFAIK, scaled has no plans to launch again in the following 2 weeks.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
It's appropriate to view this attempt win the X Prize with a full perspective of who Scaled Composites are, and where they came from.
Burt Rutan has been thinking outside the box, from the halcyon days of the Vari-Eze & Long-Eze to the innovative Ares and the 'appear-to-thumb-your-nose-at-physics' Boomerang.
His company; Scaled Composites, have not only survived the drastic slump of the light aircraft market in the 80's and 90' but made innovation their tradition - no small feat.
IMHO, they deserve to succeed with this attempt of Spaceship One.