[ADV] Spaceshipone and Quest X-15

wonder if the Estes SpaceShip One will do more than fly twice and then sit on a shelf.

Why not? The real one did.

(ahem) let me restate that :)

wonder if the Estes SpaceShip One will do more than fly twice after test flights and then sit on a shelf.

Bada-BOOM

(Rimshot sound)

Wow! I wasn't aware that the flight in June that placed the first civilian in space on a private spacecraft was JUST a test flight!

Thanks for setting me straight!

David Erbas-White

P.S. There are probably tens of thousands of other people who went there that you should tell, too...

SpaceShip One was designed for a purpose. The purpose has been accomplished. Let Scaled Composites move on to the next vehicle.

He said twice *after* test flights.

Personally, I think that Spaceship one is a significant treasure, as much as the Wright flyer. The technology and ability is now proven. It has served it's purpose. It was never intended to be in actual public service. It is proof of concept, and the milestone model for future craft.

However, I too wonder if Virgin Space Travel or whatever it will be called will actually get off the ground, and become a reality for the common folk.

~ Duane Phillips.

yeah, NASA did that with the following....

redstone atlas saturn

among others. you really want SS1 to end up the same as those? cripes, with selling the technology to virgin, he cant even sell PLANS for us lowly rocketeers to build our own.

ten to one that Virgin does NOTHING with it.

Depends on how you define test flights. Going by your definition, all Mercury and Gemini flights should simply be considered 'test flights'. There isn't a single flight of Space Ship One that didn't advance the technology by a significant degree. Frankly, every flight set a new milestone in independent space travel. Knocking it as having simply done test flights is a bit much.

Agreed, 100%. And it provided a kick in the pants to everyone who saw it, and was the equivalent of the Alan Shepard flight for this generation of kids. Trust me, I know -- I took a dozen or two Civil Air Patrol cadets up to the June launch.

Virgin Galactic. I like it just for the name .

For space travel to ever become a 'reality for the common folk', first steps must be taken, and Space Ship One provided some tremendous first steps.

David Erbas-White