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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..."
Share value of Mike's life insurance company plummeted.
. . . even if something does go wrong, there wouldn't be any better way to go out, especially with a flight history such as his.
On the other hand, not much left to top this if it does go flawlessly.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
For one who's done a lot of reading of both science fiction as well as cosmology, the stars seem so far out of reach for my short lifetime.
Getting into space isn't exactly reaching the stars, but it's the first step on the journey. I hope the mission goes smoothly and its success is a sign of things to come.
... or the first person to get a privately funded cremation in outer space... you know, whatever floats his boat.
This is really cool.
I have to admit I'd rather be Captain of a
large ship rather than pilot of a small
tin can though...
Saving up for my first starship, which I suppose
will be available in the next 40 years or so,
around the time I'll be having my first mid-life
crisis (or for me, mid-life crisis'es...)
We need to start NOW if we want to have 40 million
people on the moon by 2371...
MALCOLM SCOTT CARPENTER
...Mike Melvill
ALAN SHEPARD
JOHN GLENN
BUZZ ALDRIN
NEIL ARMSTRONG
SpaceShipOne will not only be making history because they will be breaking the tradition that only governments have the ability to get into space. They will also be breaking the tradition that only people with dramatic-sounding names get to perform important space-exploration milestones.
Fly, SpaceShipOne, fly! Fly for the drably-named of the world! For all the "I'm sorry, what's your name again"s of the world! For everyone named "Morton"! You represent all of us.
Here is a mirror. Wishing Michael a safe flight!
If I am not mistaken this will be the first vehicle launched in the USA since the Columbia accident. That alone is something to celebrate. The USA is back in busness. :p
So far, I have seen some people posting stuff related to Melville dying. This is poor taste.
I honestly hope that Melville completes this first trip unharmed. Not only for his sake, but for our sake. If he dies, the government will more than likely shut the whole private space exploration business down and set humanity back by an untold amount of years.
Why would anyone wish harm upon someone trying to pave the waqy for the rest of us?
I must have just missed the longer straw, Mike _always_ gets to test things before me
aw, shucks
Error 407 - No creative sig found
I'm thrilled at the strides private space exploration is making. I think it's appropriate that private companies should invest their profits into an endevour that will both profit them and humanity; leaving the government (funds, red tape) free to focus on its' proper obligations to its' citizenry.
I wonder if he's got the weight allowance to bring a towel, just in case...
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Play Six Pack Man. I
Scaled Composites seems to have done their homework. The craft has a double presure hull, is relatively small, and uses a propellant that is arguably more stable than what we burn in our cars. Any failure is more likely to result in an abort than in a catastrophe. SpaceShipOne has been tested extensively, and the design, although radical, is comparitively simple when viewed alongside early government funded sub-orbital flight.
Good luck and Godspeed to the SpaceShipOne team.
to be seen by the Vulcans in our solar system. This will usher in a new era of interstellar space travel. It will also give us new plotlines for Star Trek: Enterprise.
That would be a hell of a lot more likely if he were going up in the shuttle. I'd take my luck going into space (though this is just a suborbital flight) with a ship designed by Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites over something built by NASA whose design decisions have more to do with red tape and beaurocracy than technical merit.
> I for one welcome our new.....
AHA!, thought you could sneak that one by did you?
Advanced users are users too!
Is that really fair to say? Sure, NASA has had its share of red-tape screwups, and some tragic erros, but don't overlook what they *have* done.
To Mike and the rest of the SpaceShipOne crew, best of luck tomorrow.
I loved looking at the couple of pictures on their site showing the ground crew preparing the vehicle for its next flight. Jeans in tennis shoes vs. NASA's pictures of everyone in clean-room get-up.
Smooth flight guys. As someone said earlier, don't forget your towel!
Jim Harry
From the various articles about the x-prize and spaceshipone one could be forgiven for wondering whether these guys are really going into 'space', because relative to NASA's exploits they aren't exactly going that high. However, pictures like this and this from earlier test flights give a practical idea of just how high they are going to get... awesome! I wish there was some sort of webcast... anyone know of anything live?
Read Pynchon.
wow, that is pretty amazing, i didn't realize test pilots even lived that long.
The "Insert Quote Here" line is almost as predictable as inserting an actual quote.
it's just ballistic...the craft doesn't have enough (any?) shielding for re-entry heat, so it has to stay suborbital.
For those of us who don't have access to CNN but have a decent enough internet connection, MSNBC is planning on providing live streaming video. You can find the link in most of their recent articles about it, including this one: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5236958/
Oh, please. Get over yourself. Half of the reason it was only 20 million was because they didn't have to pioneer the system that had nailed down nearly 50 years of successful spaceflight. Ok, so it's civilan flight. Whoopdeeshit. As great as it is, these people are standing on the shoulders of giants to even get close to where they are today. No freakin chance this would be $20M if they had to R&D and fabricate a space program from the ground up.
And yes, the USA is back and buisness and it is a reason to celebrate. Beyond the petty fact that there is a distinct lack of foreign competition in this sector, the event is a milestone in civilian rocketry worldwide. Whose market was this entire effort born from again...? Yeah, it sounds pigheaded as hell, but then so does dismissing this entire project as nothing more than a invidiual/corporate victory when it's a victory for the entire country whose very way of life made such impossible dreams a possible and whose economic environment could support such flights of fancy, something for which the entire world will look upon and follow.
Damn right it's a reason to celebrate.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
My only question is if he's going to be playing "Magic Carpet Ride" on his way into space. :)
cheese logs keep my wang warm at night.
I wonder whether he answered yes or no.
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
Actually, this is an interesting question -- I mean, the guy footing the bill is the co-founder of Microsoft. Aren't we cheering on an Evil Empire? Here's the problem with linux zealots who shun all there is about capitalism -- they fail to recognize the development that is only possible by vast amounts of money.
This is my digital signature. 10011011001
If these folks built this thing for peanuts (compared to NASA budgets), NASA will seem ridiculously ineffective. Like a giant corporation where no one gives a crap about what they're doing and comes to work every day not to do something to change the world, but to collect the paycheck every two weeks.
It's not like they deserve this kind of treatment, but the question will be raised for sure.
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.
I've never been all that excited about the space program; I missed those years by a decade. I worked for a PhD that was part of the Apollo program; he left NASA when he realized that he would never get to fly in space. He was right, so long as it was being run by governments - only the elite of the elite would ever have that honour, and even then, only while there was political interest.
Looking at pictures taken from the edge of space make my spine tingle - especially when they're taken by what amounts to a shoestring budget done by private enterprise. Pictures are one thing; tomorrow if all goes to plan, private enterprise will have put a man up there at the edge of space. Maybe not in orbit; I'm sure that will come in time.
I can't imagine what it must feel like to look up and see black, then look down and see the glowing blue curvature of the earth.
If you're reading this Mike, and everyone at Scaled Composites, you did a damn good job and we'll be waiting for your safe landing!
..don't panic
I use Linux and have zero problem with someone doing well and making money. What I and many of have a problem with is the way money becomes power and then that power is outrageously abused. As I posted earlier today, MS is not only competing on quality of product and service. They are also competing with smear campaigns and lawyers. Remember that Brazilian minister who is getting sued for criticism of MS' marketing tactics? Yes, they disavow it now but MS fund AdTI and AdTI wrote a very "unhelpful distraction". They called it that once it become clear the mud was going to stick to them.
We are by no means a united group of "commie hippies" out to undermine capitalism. Some of us even own businesses and would take exception to being collectivized. All most of us are trying to say is that making money is not an excuse to throw ethics and morals out the window. There is no problem with having a lot if money if you a) earned it honestly and b) don't use it to buy fake journalists and politicians.
Oh and remember this: "DOS ain't done until 123 won't run." This isn't jealously at the success of another. We are expressing moral outrage at behaivor that should not be acceptable to anybody. Even megacapitalists.
Then how about JUGDERDEMIDIYN GURRAGCHA, who is not only first Mongolian cosmonaut, but is also named way beyond 'dramatically'.
In fact, here is a complete list of all 436 cosmo-/astronauts. Choose your favourite
3.243F6A8885A308D313
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.
From the Launch Event FAQ:
Q: Can we fly a commercial flight to Mojave?
A: No, Mojave has no commercial airline service.
Doh.
"Never put off for tomorrow what can be avoided altogether"
Hey, they may have fucked up human spaceflight for the last 20 years or so, but give them credit for Spitzer, Hubble, Chandra, Spirit and Opportunity, Cassini, and all the other wonderful science they've done that I can't remember right now.
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Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
Paul Allen: OK, the spaceship is ready, wanna try it?
Burt Rutan (Very nervous as he looks at the spaceship): I'm not gonna try it, you try it first.
Paul: Oh, come on. Just try it.
Burt: No way, You try it.
Paul: Hey, let's get Mikey - he'll try anything.
Burt: Hey Mikey! (Whispers in Mike Melville's ear)
(Mike gets into SpaceShipOne and flies into space)
Paul and Burt: He likes it!
-hadohk
Most importantly the largest nation on earth pioneered the principles that Space Ship One will rely on. If you think this project even compares to the achievements of the Russian space program you are either very ignorent or very stupid.
I am not Russian or anything but I am sick of morons that can't tell the difference between launching a Cosmonaut for two round trips of the planet 43 years ago with the aid of possibly a single computer (not on board), primitive materials and theoretical equasions and flying a plane at a sub-orbital altitude with the aid of 40 years of space research to build from. Oh, and also the morons that can't tell the difference between putting people on the moon and "winning".
I of cause wish the Space Ship One Team luck, but they can never achieve such a victory for the human race as Gargarin did that day when he left the planet for the first time ever.
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
While paul is the co-founder of MS, he long ago left it. He has been chasing cable during the 90's, has funded a large number of companies that are based on Linux (low cost and maintainability is job #1), and is now persuing Space with a vengence. All of these take real money which Bill, Paul, Steve, etc. have accumulated. Only Paul has made the move all over.
Also like Bill, Paul gives away billions, but unlike Bill, it is without strings attached (Bill gives billions, but it is tied to MS).
Also, Paul is well-liked and admired by those who have bought from him as well as worked for him. He has not been slimey in the way that the approaches every thing that he does. Have you heard anybody issue a nasty word at Paul? I see you tieing him to MS, but I see no direct words against him.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Paul Allen has had cancer and survived. As a result he has re-organized his priorities, such as enjoying life a little bit more, giving away things he doesn't need, giving others a chance, etc.
Why does it takes cancer to come to this view of life is beyond me, but kudos all the same.
While they are huge and a lot of money is no doubt wasted internally, they're doing "one of a kind" and "state of the art" stuff, and this is always expensive.
It's not exactly easy to quantify their impact on our daily lives, but if you watch TV, use cell phone and/or pager, or GPS you see your tax dollars at work pretty much. None of these things would be easy or even possible without NASA.
Saying that NASA is too expensive is like saying that Wright brothers had wasted too much money on their first crappy airplane. Sure they did, but it was the FIRST working airplane. These days any fool can build a working airplane out of readily available parts. Back then it was state of the art.
It sure did cost billions to send rovers to Mars, too. And it's not something anyone else will be able to achieve within the next decade.
This costs a lot. Can NASA be improved? No doubt. Is the cost justified even given the current inefficiencies? It sure as heck is.
The Orion drive is our only hope.
Two Northwest Airlines Airbus pilots might be the next runners-up for tourist flights into outer upper/space/out-of-airspace...
= 51 4&e=13&u=/ap/20040620/ap_on_re_us/wrong_airpor t_1
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid
An inquiring mind (mine) wants to know a few things.
After a Northwest Airlines Airbus passenger plane landed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the passengers were detained for some 3 hours, interrogated, after being ordered to shut their window covers.
So, does anyone know what is so special about Ellsworth that the windows were ordered shut? This does not seem to be the case (ordering shuttered windows) at Portland and some other bases sharing a border with commercial airports.
Could the crew and or passengers have been interrogated as to whether they shot footage or filmed any of the base during descent? Did the military confiscate their cameras, or merely look at each frame and scan every laptop for pictures of the base (or look for quickly-hidden compact flash or other media disks), or did the military fly out with them on the short hop over the hill, ensuring that NO-ONE shot any pix or opened their window covers?
Even more importantly, how can the pilot and first officer of a plane with probably more computing power than a space shuttle land 5 miles off course and onto a MILITARY base, unless they turned off the electronics or doubted the electronics, and landed by VFR, or Visual Flight Rules. And, even MORE telling, does this say the the FAA and the flight controllers were asleep at the controls?
Can such a thing happen again? Will this prompt the military to "paint" commercial aircraft to sternly warn them to get back on course? Why did not the military simultaneously call the plane AND the air traffic control tower and vector the commercial plane away? Doesn't this say that even after 9/11, the military and commercial air traffic control systems, after billions of dollars in equipment and upgrades, STILL/one again let down the public?
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
and comparitively speaking a troll.
Seriously. This topic has been debated so much that I swear that this is some astro turfing by Boeing.
People are clamoring to get into space, and has been pointed out in many areas, even with this limited capability it still even has value for some research programs. This is a bridge builder, not a dead-end technology.
As has been pointed out many times, the flight distance of the original flight of the Wright Flyer was less than the wingspan of a 747. Does that mean it was a dead-end technology? In some ways yes. The flying system of a Wright flyer relied upon wing warping that has not been revisited until very recently, and that only in experimental aircraft. The body shifting a skilled pilot with that aircraft had to do is now really only used with hang-gliders, and even then it is much more refined. Even the later version of the aircraft were really only able to travel about 100 miles, and only under conditions we would call today VFR.
I do believe this is much more than symbolism. This is building infrastructure and bringing back the days of barnstorming, where pilots from WWI wanted to earn a few extra bucks, so they took an airplane (sometimes military surplus as well) and flew it around for "air shows" (usually just a simple demonstration... not the current rather extravagant versions we have now), and occasionally taking on a few passengers. With Spaceship One, this era of flight can be reborn, and it was during that critical era that aircraft technologies matured enough that passenger air service finally occured, ultimately leading to the DC-3 (a fun aircraft that I've actually flown in as a passenger on a regular commercial flight).
Right now, there isn't really anything between the Space Shuttle and the ship currently being built by the "Rocket Guy" Brian Walker And even Mr. Walker, while it may eventually work, still isn't even done.
Finally there is a system in place that can and will approve commercial space flight (as proved by Scaled Composites... they have the permit in hand). Technologies can and will be upgraded, and as just about every participant in the X-prize competition has been proving, you can get to space on less than the most exotic rockets and materials. Let's see where spaceflight can happen when you don't have contractors saying "it doesn't matter what the cost of building it is. Just get it up there." That leads to Shuttle launches that cost 1/2 Billion dollars each. This next flight of the shuttle will cost way over $1 Billion. I know that private companies could do that for considerably cheaper. Indeed, $1 Billion could cover the entire R&D budget, including FAA certification trials, of a whole launch system capable of putting seven astronauts at the ISS with extra cargo room for some expendable supplies. Why wouldn't NASA go that route instead? Just make an x-prize equivalent for the same money, and it will be going well before the shuttle is ready and flight-recertified itself. (Well... maybe, but then you might as well junk the entire shuttle program if an alternative program is close to launching).
If you don't think a $1 billion carrot for orbital characteristics would work, you really havn't been paying attention to the X-prize, have you? And that is money that will more than likely be spend in the the next two years anyway, why not put it to more valuable use?
Just wanted to add that we have chat on the irc.freenode.net servers. The room is appropriately named #SpaceShipOne and is now open to the public without password needed.
Since there is apearently no real-time coverage online (unless NASATV desides to cover it), this may be the next closest thing. Share your voice, express your opinion, and just hang out and listen to others.
See you there...
-Pandelirium - registered.freenode.net
Moderator - #SpaceShipOne #maestro #cassini #Pandelirium MaximumPC
http://www.pandelirium.net
Mike Melville is the ONLY member of the team who doesn't have to prepare two speeches....
Define Irony: all Slashdotters cheering for a company taht was (almost) fully funded by blood money of Evil Empire of Micro$oft.
P.S. best of luck and successful flight to Mike and SS1 people.
-DVK
"The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it"-R.A.Heinlein
"Father, Thank you, especially for letting me fly this flight. Thank you for the priviledge of being able to be in this position; to be up in the wonderous place, seeing all these many startling wonderful things that you have created. Help guide and direct all of us that we may shape our lives to be much better Christians, trying to help one another, and to work with one another rather then fighting and bickering. Help us to complete this mission successfully. Help us in our future space endouvors that we may show the world that democracy really can compete, and still able to fo things in a big way, and are able to do ersearch, developement, and can conduct many scientific and very technical programs. We with our families. Give them guidence and encouragement, and let them know that everything wil be OK. We ask in Thy name. Amen"
Prayer of Astronaut Gordon Cooper, pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, during 17th orbit of the Earth in the "Faith 7".
While looking for a prayer for astronauts that I swore existed I found this. While I am not of any religion I hope that the mission will be on your minds, as private companies going to space will help speed up the exploration of space. The last thing we need is a setback on the first try. I posted this as it is a great look back to 1962 and how the US felt in contrast to today. While some things stayed the same...
---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.
...after finding out his uniform has a red shirt.
--
What would Bill Clinton do?
Space flight has always been an argument against the free market:
a)'duh, who is going to pay millions of dollars just to visit space'
b)'yeah, but it will get cheaper with time, as companys put huge investments into it to archieve the profits that can be realized when spaceflight has truly become a consumer good'
a)'hahahahaha, look at how much NASA has to spend, going to space will always be expensive and dangerous, even the government hasn't managed it yet'
b)'no, its expensive and dangerous *because* the government is doing it not despite.'
a)'yeah right, thats what you always say, I'll believe that when I see it'
___
No power in the 'verse can stop me
Look, I think you are missing the point.
This is a private MANNED flight.
So what if the boosters are made by private aerospace firms? All they are launching are toys. Toys that can take zero gravity, zero kelvin, and zero pressure. The big deal about this is about MANNING a capsule into space without a goverment doing anything but giving permits like a building inspector.
You are talking about subcontractors. Look, I understand what you are saying, but to be truthful, your +4 insightful makes no sense here.
MANNED SPACEFLIGHT. MANNED. Non-governmental pilots in space. Big deal. Real big deal considering all the cash that has washed up for NASA.