SpaceShipOne in SoCal

OK … this caught my eye … SpaceShipOne and CHOCOLATE. My favorite part of the story: Melvill said once he reached weightlessness, he opened a bag of
M&M’s in the cockpit that floated around for three minutes while the ship sailed high above California.

Today was a beautiful day in the Mojave Desert indeed. It was so moving … and one to be so close to. It is a local hangout for me. An airport full of mysterious and interesting projects. And, not to mention a great restaurant with a great runway view.

Later on today, I will talk with my friend from Joshua Approach who handled the airspace.

Here’s their Web site with lots of interesting links.
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/062104.htm

If you get a chance, tune into CNN today .. they will show it all day or check out link below while it lasts.

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

——- Story from CNN ———-

Private craft soars into space, history

By Michael Coren
CNN
Monday, June 21, 2004 Posted: 2:10 PM
EDT (1810 GMT)

Pilot Mike Melvill celebrates after landing SpaceShipOne after a trip to suborbital space.

MOJAVE, California (CNN) —
SpaceShipOne left the Earth behind on
Monday morning and made its indelible
entry in the history books as the first
private spacecraft to carry humans into
space. It touched down safely at Mojave
Airport at 11:15 ET.

“It looks great,” said Burt Rutan, chief of
Scaled Composites, which built the craft.
He gave a thumbs up on the runway as
he squinted into the sun at the aircraft he
designed.

At 10:51 ET, Mike Melvill ignited the rocket
engines and piloted SpaceShipOne into
the blackness of space. His trajectory
took him more than 100 kilometers, or 62
miles, above Earth’s surface, according to
Scaled Composites flight officials.

“It was a mind-blowing experience, it
really was — absolutely an awesome
thing,” Melvill said after landing.

“The colors were pretty staggering. From
up there, it’s almost a religious
experience.”

Melvill said once he reached
weightlessness, he opened a bag of
M&M’s in the cockpit that floated around
for three minutes while the ship sailed
high above California.

The rocket plane lifted off about 9:45 ET
carried by the jet White Knight for an
hourlong ascent.

At 10:35 ET, it reached 33,000 feet and
the pilot reported all systems checked out
for its space launch.

It received clearance to land and “go for
light” — the signal to begin launch
countdown — at 10:46 ET.

The pair approached 50,000 feet a few
minutes later and SpaceShipOne
decoupled from the jet. After a brief glide,
Melvill ignited the engines and ascended
at Mach 3, three times the speed of
sound, into space.

From the cockpit, the curvature of the
Earth and a thin blue line that demarcates
our atmosphere was visible against the
black sky. Melvill, the first astronaut to
pilot a private spacecraft, maneuvered the
plane for descent on the same runway it
departed nearly two hours earlier.

On landing, Melvill told of a loud bang he
heard during the flight. He said it
appeared to have been part of the
composite airframe buckling near the
rocket nozzle. However, the slight
indention in SpaceShipOne’s exterior did
not appear to have jeopardized the craft’s
performance.

“There was a lot thrust from the plane,”
said Melvill. “It took me by surprise back
there. Everything went really well. I feel
great.”

The flight marks the pinnacle of Rutan’s
vision of affordable, safe private space
travel. His company Scaled Composites
built SpaceShipOne with financial
backing from Paul Allen, co-founder of
Microsoft, for a little more than $20
million. From just a concept in 1995 to
reality less than a decade later, Rutan
said this was the realization of a long
dream..

“I’m so proud of that, it brings tears to my
eyes,” he said.

The rocket plane made its farthest and
fastest flight to date.

A prelude to future flights

Those on hand for the launch — including
officals from NASA, the Federal Aviation
Administration, the X Prize foundation and
the Guinness Book of Records — were
reverent of the historic moment. Peter
Diamandis, co-founder of the X Prize, the
$10 million prize for civilian spaceflight,
said Rutan’s vision would open the door
for those with the same dream and
designs on the X prize.

“This is a warm-up for the Ansari X Prize,
but it’s a historic moment for all
Americans,” he said. “(I’ve heard), ‘If God
wanted us to fly into space, he would
have given us more money’. Hopefully,
the technology demonstrated here today
will lead to designs that are cheaper and
easier.”

Scaled Composites is one of 24
companies from several countries
competing for the X Prize, which will go to
the first privately funded group to send
three people on a suborbital flight 62.5
miles (100.6 kilometers) high and repeat
the feat within two weeks using the same
vehicle.

The nonprofit X Prize Foundation is
sponsoring the contest to promote the
development of a low-cost, efficient craft
for space tourism in the same way prize
competitions stimulated commercial
aviation in the early 20th century.

The prize is fully funded through January
1, 2005, according to the foundation’s
Web site.

With Melvill on board, Monday’s flight
tested SpaceShipOne’s ability to reach
the 62.5-mile altitude, the internationally
agreed-upon boundary of space.

Spectators witness history
SpaceShipOne landed safely in the
Mojave Desert Monday after flying into
space, reaching an altitude of 62.5 miles.

The remote desert Mojave airport, home
to the world’s only civilian test flight center
and a licensed spaceport, was also host
to an assortment of vehicles that
converged on the site from around the
country.

Buses, RVs, electric scooters, small
ultralights and a menagerie of other
vehicles were parked in the sandy soil
across from the runway.

A sense of historic anticipation was
shared by many of the spectators. Some
said that after waiting decades, they were
finally witnessing the first steps toward
spaceflight for them.

Josh Collins, 25, said he had flown from
Maryland to see the attempt.

“Some people thought I was crazy, other
people are jealous,” he said. “I can’t wait
to see the launch. It’s going to be
historic.”

Scaled Composites is one of 24
companies from several countries
competing for the $10 million Ansari X
Prize, which will go to the first privately
funded group to send three people on a
suborbital flight 62.5 miles (100.6
kilometers) high and repeat the feat
within two weeks using the same vehicle.

The nonprofit X Prize Foundation is
sponsoring the contest to promote the
development of a low-cost, efficient craft
for space tourism in the same way prize
competitions stimulated commercial
aviation in the early 20th century.

The prize is fully funded through January
1, 2005, according to the foundation’s
Web site