Private craft flies into space

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By Michael Coren
CNN
Monday, June 21, 2004 Posted: 11:25 AM EDT (1525 GMT)
MOJAVE, California (CNN) -- Rocket plane SpaceShipOne reached an altitude above 62.5 miles (100 km) during its brief flight Monday morning, making it the first privately built craft to fly in space, controllers said.
The space plane was carried aloft to about 50,000 feet by the jet White Knight.
From there SpaceShipOne launched into space.
Shortly after, the space vehicle landed safely at the same place from which it took off.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/21/suborbital.test/index.html

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Hmm: flies into space.

IMHO, that's the same as if I say "I swam in the wide ocean" when I 'discovered' the temparature in the Atlantic with my feet 10 days ago.

Actually, it's more "Private rocket plane reaches earth's atmosphere" and about winning the X-Prize, a $10m race to be the first private company to put a craft into space twice in two weeks.

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This is about scaling up and it is long over due. The X-15 reached this altitude in the 1960's with a single military pilot, this craft can carry three people. The next step is to provide it with and engine that will reach space station altitudes. Those engines are available on the commercial market. This is an important step.

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I don't think anyone did it for the $10 million prize. After all, it cost $20 million just to build. NASA could learn a few lessons in efficiency and space travel from these guys. Why do NASA's manned missions always cost ten times that amount?

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

Hmm: flies into space.

IMHO, that's the same as if I say "I swam in the wide ocean" when I 'discovered' the temparature in the Atlantic with my feet 10 days ago.

Actually, it's more "Private rocket plane reaches earth's atmosphere" and about winning the X-Prize, a $10m race to be the first private company to put a craft into space twice in two weeks.

Hmmm...It's not a space vehicle...it's a glorified airplane.

62 miles is not "outer space", it's the upper atmosphere--since anything reaching orbital speed at that height would burn up.

'SpaceShipNone' is a technological dead-end, like Rutan's other stunt planes.

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Benjamin Franklin, while the American embassador to France witness one of the first balloon ascensions. When a cynic asked him of what use it was he replied "of what use is a baby?" This is not a stunt but a first step.

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Nick wrote

Quote:

I don't think anyone did it for the $10 million prize. After all, it cost $20 million just to build. NASA could learn a few lessons in efficiency and space travel from these guys. Why do NASA's manned missions always cost ten times that amount?

More likely they cost 100-times more... The budget for NASA manned missions is in billions for a couple of flights per year.

Relative

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Actually, this is a modest accomplishment when you compare it to the flight of Alan Shepard and the Russian and USA space programs of the early 60's.

IMO, the most positive development from this endeavor would be if it encourages further private investment in space travel as opposed to gov't funded space programs.

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I agree with Nick and Acquiunk. This is pretty cool and it is an important pioneering first step.

These teams are competing for the X prize which defines "space" as 100km (an international definition). This competition is chanllenging and appropriate. It is, without question, advancing the technology that is our future.

There are several teams trying for this prize. Each is using different techniques to reach their goal. There are traditional multi-stage rockets competing with the piggy-back plane approach used today. Liquid fuel rockets are competing with new "gel" fuels and hydrogen. Each team is developing brand new technology.

This is very exciting! In 30 years you all will understand the significance of these efforts. Please don't dampen the spirits of us who see it now.

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Very cool. This has never been done. I hope it is the start of private, commercial exploitation of space, and not just an isolated incident.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

Very cool. I hope it is the start of private, commercial exploitation of space, .

That's the goal, Rutan and Allen are not going to invest $20 million for a $10 million dollar prize.

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Franklin said it all very well, as he did so many things.

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Right on AQ and the prize is a hell of a lot more than $10 mill anyway. You've forgotten bragging rights! Who knows; maybe one day we'll have the technology to put a man on the moon!

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The point is OC right now you have to ask the government's permission to go to the moon. They control the only means of transportation. With these systems all you have to do is put up the money. This renders obsolete catchup programs such as the Chinese space program.

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Technologies which make money, and for which there is competition between vendors, progress much more quickly than technologies developed exclusively by a government. Look at how quickly PC technology has advanced over the past 20 years.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

Technologies which make money, and for which there is competition between vendors, progress much more quickly than technologies developed exclusively by a government.

Yes and no. For example in the case of both rocketry and computer processors much of the basic technology was developed by either government grants or government programs. This generally involves large expenditures with no grantee of return. Once the technology has been developed and there is an obvious market private vendors take over and elaborate on it. The trick is to learn when to switch from one to the other. An example where the US blew it is the video camera. The basic technology was developed for the space program. But it was the Japanese who took it and developed a cheap reliable consumer product.

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I don't disagree. Anyway, this is a wonderful thing.

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I was waiting for this since their announcement last year.. I am quite excited by it, especially because the planes are so beautiful, so fragile and so simple. I think this is the main benefit of private investment - to rationalize the whole thing down to the bare minimum, and build from there.

Relative

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I can remember following Rutan's "Voyager" as it went around the world without taking on gas.

I just hope this does lead to bigger and better things. I said on another forum that I hope that in another 30-40 years I can take a vacation in space:)

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It can take 3 people eh?

After the **** up they've made on earth, it would seem a pity to deny Bush Rumsfeld and Cheney the opportunity to **** up outer space.

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Private craft flies into space

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