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.

Comments

Careful with that "civilian" word there, bub.

[Baldrson]

The United States now has a certified and *operational* civilian space port. Holy frick.

The original NASA charter was to be a "civilian" space program.

"Civilians" were primarily involved in the decision to impose sexually abusive techniques in the Abu Ghurayb prison.

While military discipline tends to slide quite a bit during peacetime (and times where the "war" isn't really life-or-death for the powers that be) the government space program would have been a lot better off if it had been purely military rather than "civilian".

There would likely have been far less competition between the governmental and private sector.

Having said that, there is simply no substitute for a society based on Yeoman farmer conservatism where the nation's real might is derived from free and independent people who know how to use tools and defend their own lands -- and the loss of that society during the 20th century is the true source of all this damaging government policy.

That is the society that gave rise to the Wright Brother's bike shop, the golden age of aviation and the real might of the United States during mobilization in WW II and beyond. That might is not entirely gone yet, but it is profoundly damaged and severely threatened with destruction.