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SpaceShipOne Flight Completed Successfully
knothead99 writes "CNN is reporting the successful liftoff of SpaceShipOne from a runway in the Mojave desert. Around 10:30 EDT the craft will reach an altitude of 50,000 feet and they'll separate from White Knight and ignite the rocket for space entry. More information can also be found at the Mojave Airport website" Update: 06/21 15:36 GMT by S : An MSNBC story confirms that SpaceShipOne 'glided safely back to Earth, landing back at the Mojave Airport' around 8.15AM PST.
So they made it. Congrats. Now how high would they have to go to enter orbit?
Laboratree - Scientific collaboration based on OpenSocial.
This is a great day for man. I firmly believe that our future lies in some day getting off this Earth and spreading throughout space. As such, the accomplishment we have witnessed today was great. This heralds a new era of spaceflight, not one in which governments spend billions, but one in which small companies pay millions, to get into orbit. At this rate, in ten years, commercial space flight might be a reality - and space exploitation (and as a side-effect, human colonization of space) would occur. See any number of novels by Stephen Baxter for more details.
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
My favorite update so far is this one:
1250 GMT (8:50 a.m. EDT)
The International Space Station will be flying high above Mojave at approximately the time SpaceShipOne is scheduled to launch. The Expedition 9 resident crew will attempt to photograph the launch and contrail.
The ISS crew, likely to be remembered as caretakers of NASA's failed scheme, will be witness to the future of space exploration. Poetic, isn't it?
It also occurs to me that if something bad happens to the Russian space program, the ISS crew may have to wait for Rutan's future orbital project, if they hope to get home at all...
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
He seems to 'crave' publicity with his projects.
Of all the X-Prize competitors, Scaled Composites have been the most media-shy. He receives lots of publicity for his projects because they are pretty, innovative, and successful.
Also I heard on Cnn interview of Rutan that he didn't develop this rocket with the X prize in mind.
They have spent more than double the prize money developing Tier One. They'd have to be pretty stupid to be in it just to win the X-Prize. While it would be nice to recoup $10m by winning the prize, they will continue their developement whether they win or not. (Mass fatalities excluded.)
Just another contest bought out by the richest guy.
Yes. That was the point. Encourage the private sector to invest in commercial space travel by rewarding the smart investor with $10m.
Really. I'm sure you can find out more on CNN.
"A goldfish was his muse, eternally amused"
'Nevertheless, I can't see the justification for this kind of thing while people starve right here on Earth.'
I take it that you donate every single penny of your disposable income to those starving people, rather than waste it on frivolous uses like internet access, beer and vacations?
No, didn't think so.
He proved it could be done. No matter what becomes of Space Ship One, this is a crowning achievement and could pave the way for further advancement.
Any research like this is well worth doing, even if the end benefits are not immediate.
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs