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[::..about this blog..::]
"...all these worlds..." is a blog by David Hitt. It covers space exploration, decent science fiction, humor (by its very nature), and whatever else I happen to find cool. (Formerly "You Must Fight The Bear")
Name: David Hitt About Me: Inspiring the next generation of explorers... See my complete profile
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The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author, and very likely no one else.
[::..archive..::]
:: Friday, May 14, 2004 ::
Eyes On The Prize
So, here's the biggest question I have left about the X Prize: Will SpaceShipOne make its first suborbital flight on July 4 or July 20? I've seen speculation that the flight is coming on the Fourth of July, but the July 20 date might be even more appealing. Unfortunately, the 2-week time limit for making the two flights just barely precludes one of the Fourth and one on July 20 (though it would allow for a Fourth of July first flight and a second flight on the July 16 Apollo 11 launch date). Anyway, SpaceShipOne made a third powered test flight yesterday, reaching a speed of Mach 2.5 and an altitude of about 40 miles, almost two-thirds of the way to the 63 mile goal. Given that this test roughly doubled the altitude of the previous one, I have no trouble imagining that the spacecraft will be ready for its close-up by July. Addendum: Here's additional insight from Cosmic Log and Space.com Another Addendum:Video of the flight can be seen here, and it's pretty cool.