SpaceShipOne has made it!

Mike Melvill has become the first person to earn astronaut wings in a non-government sponsored vehicle, and the first private civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere.

Leave a message of congratulations at

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-- Gareth Slee

Stupid gravity! Homer Simpson: (Falling out of treehouse)

Reply to
Gareth Slee
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Not every person that flew into space in a government-sponsored vehicle earned astronaut wings. Astronaut wings were awarded by the USAF to USAF pilots who flew above fifty miles.

Reply to
Steven P. McNicoll

Of course it all depends where you draw the line for space....

For the X-Prize, I believe I am correct in saying that the line is drawn at

62 miles/100 km, which is just an arbirtrary value - 99km is just as much 'space', but if you don't draw the line somewhere its impossible to say :-)

What is clear is that this is a real milestone, since nothing like this has been done before, and most of all compared to the sort of money governments spend on this type of stuff, it really is a huge achievment. Rutan and the Scaled team deserve all the praise they get, all that remains now is to complete the X-Prize flights, and prove that it *can* be done (and done in an innovative way).

-- Niall Oswald ========= UKRA 1345 L0 EARS 1151 MARS

"Gravity assisted pieces of the rocket raining from the sky should be avoided. It is also financially undesirable."

-Portland State Aerospace Society

Reply to
Niall Oswald

governments

But something like this has been done before, over forty years before. This is just the first time it's been done without government funds.

Reply to
Steven P. McNicoll

I want some video already!

Pax

Reply to
Paxton

A single suborbital flight yes.

But the X-prize task is TWO such flights with the same spacecraft in a 2 week period, each carrying a 3 person crew. NO ONE, INCLUDING NASA, has ever done that.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

That's something I'm not clear on... the media reports the X-Prize as being for a three-man flight or equivalent weight. Was today's flight properly laden to qualify for the first flight?

-- Carl D Cravens ( snipped-for-privacy@phoenyx.net) Wichita, Kansas, US -- Read my model rocketry journal at

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Reply to
Carl D Cravens

No, this was a test flight with pilot only. Some of the other coverage indicated that the real attempt would be in September or so.

Reply to
Eric Pederson

No.

Reply to
Darren J Longhorn

That's what I was saying....just not clearly enough :-)

-- Niall Oswald ========= UKRA 1345 L0 EARS 1151 MARS

"Gravity assisted pieces of the rocket raining from the sky should be avoided. It is also financially undesirable."

-Portland State Aerospace Society

Reply to
Niall Oswald

Congrats.

BARELY made it.

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Because it's 100 kilometers.

Reply to
Fred B

62.14, ectually...

David Erbas-White

Reply to
David Erbas-White

Jerry wrote:

LOL!

Reply to
RayDunakin

The original mission trajectory would have placed them up at 68mi. They made 62mi.

Despite the failure of a critical system (trim actuators) which caused unplanned roll, and a less-than-ideal trajectory, they were able to fulfill the primary mission objectives. I'd say that's pretty cool.

Reply to
Marcus Leech

Which is why it achieved 100km.

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Point!

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

62.1212121212
Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Is full of crap religiously.

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Includes the person, his flight suit and his personal equipment. It is intended to encourage the use of flight suits and safety equipment since it is "free" under the rules.

Or you could go in a bathing suit and bring 4 times as many cameras :)

Hi Frank!

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

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