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Burt Rutan On Future Of SpaceShipOne (and Two)
Neil Halelamien writes "In a recent interview with the Desert Sun, Burt Rutan talks about the future of SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo. The bad news is that SpaceShipOne will be retired straight to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, despite getting five different requests to fly suborbital payloads. The good news is that efforts are being focused on SpaceShipTwo, which will carry nine people, and fly higher and further downrange than SpaceShipOne. Virgin Galactic will purchase a fleet of five of these vehicles, which will start test flights in 2007. Virgin Galactic may end up competing with Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which is rumored to be developing a VTOL suborbital vehicle. Also interesting to watch will be Rutan's involvement with t/Space, one of the companies contracted by NASA to conduct concept studies for the Vision for Space Exploration."
How is it bad news to have something historical placed directly in a museum where it can be properly preserved? Think of the early Wright Flyers which are only chuncks of the original with best research replacement parts. They have learned from this one, it has done what it was meant to do, be a proof of concept. Now they are doing what they need to do, capitalize on said proof of concept with something more practical. Phooey.
The Times Person of the Year is not necessarilly a person who has been benevolent to society. He/She is simply the person that got the most press and is the most talked about and controversial person.
As a Bush hater, I think he fully deserves that title.