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"...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")

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:: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 ::

Beyond The Sky 

SpaceShipOne

Highlights from coverage of yesterday's SpaceShipOne flight:

From NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe:
We applaud the remarkable achievement of Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and test pilot Mike Melvill following the first successful suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne.
Not unlike the first U.S. and Soviet space travelers in 1961, and China's first successful spaceflight last October, these private citizens are pioneers in their own right. They are doing much to open the door to a new marketplace offering the experience of weightlessness and suborbital space flight to the public.
We congratulate the SpaceShipOne team and wish all those who may follow safe flights.


Per NASA:
Astronaut Mike Fincke, who is living and working on board the International Space Station, conveyed his congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team during space-to-ground communications today.
"Fantastic!" Fincke said upon hearing the news that test pilot Mike Melvill had successfully completed the first privately funded suborbital human space flight. "We were wishing them the best of luck. We're all in the space business together, helping mankind get off the planet and explore the stars."


Per USA Today:
Even with the problems, Melvill flew well beyond 50 miles, qualifying him for U.S. astronaut status. After the flight, an official from the Federal Aviation Administration gave a tearful Melvill the USA's first "commercial astronaut wings." ...
Melvill was high enough that he could see the curve of the Earth. When he released a bag of M&Ms into the cockpit, he said they "just spun around like little sparkling things."


Per Florida Today:
That's why Monday was a "turning point" for space travel and Florida's role in it, says Winston Scott, a former NASA astronaut who is executive director of the Florida Space Authority, charged with luring new space business to the state.
And it's also why it should be a catalyst for immediate action.
"We're at the start of a new day. In fact, I predict that in 25 to 30 years, the number of private launches will outpace the number of government launches," said Scott.


Per SFGate.com:
Where is NASA in all this? The recently released report from the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond refocuses NASA on what it does best: exploration. The discoveries from the Hubble Telescope and the Mars rovers continue to amaze us and teach us more about the universe. Like Lewis and Clark, they are the pioneers, and we are the settlers.
After almost 50 years of waiting, the time has come to open up shop 200 miles up. NASA continues to blaze new trails. Now it is private industry's turn to pave the road.


Per The New York Times:
Mr. Rutan called the malfunction "the most serious safety problem we have encountered" in the nine years it took to create and launch SpaceShipOne. He added, however, that the backup systems and Mr. Melvill's training all came together for a successful flight.
Mr. Melvill also said that during ascent he had heard a loud bang, which was apparently caused by a cover over the tail nozzle that buckled during the flight.
"I was pretty scared," he said.


Per The Washington Times:
"Since Yuri Gagarin and Al Shepard's epic flights in 1961, all space missions have been flown only under large, expensive government efforts. By contrast, our program involves a few dedicated individuals who are focused entirely on making spaceflight affordable," Mr. Rutan said.
Mr. Rutan said the mission was cut back from its planned 360,000 feet (more than 68 miles) because of a steering problem.


Per The Houston Chronicle:
But after its civilian pilot calmed steering woes and jerked the experimental rocket ship back on course, he rolled to a historic stop in the Mojave Desert crying a triumphant "Yeehaw!" ...
"You really do feel that you touch the face of God when you do something like this," said Melvill, a 63-year-old grandfather. "The colors were pretty staggering looking down at the Earth from up there. It's almost a religious experience. It's an awesome thing to see."


Per Spaceflight Now:
As always during a test flight, he was wearing his lucky horseshoe, a piece of jewelry he designed and presented to his girlfriend when she was 16 years old. The two were married when she was 17 and have been together now for 48 years.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, also was on hand to greet the new astronaut "and to have him come up and shake my hand and congratulate me and tell me I'd joined the club, that was serious stuff, man," Melvill said.


Per Reuters:
Michael Lembeck of NASA's office of exploration systems said such prizes would go to private explorers for such landmarks as "the first soft landing on the moon, or for returning a piece of an asteroid to Earth." ...
Lembeck said NASA would consider offering $10 million to $30 million in prizes to encourage private investors to develop space vehicles. There was even discussion of offering "a couple hundred million dollars for the first private orbital flight," he said in a telephone interview.


Per The Christian Science Monitor:
In many ways, the moment is more Wild West than Wilbur Wright, opening a new frontier for the geniuses and thrill seekers, businessmen and hucksters who have long followed pioneers to new lands and new markets.
"It's like the opening of the West," says Howard McCurdy, a spaceflight historian at American University in Washington. "Entrepreneurs followed in the wake of the oft government-funded explorers. There were a lot of characters and a lot of innovation."


Per Cox News Service:
Rutan's company, called Scaled Composites, is the leading contender among 26 companies and teams from seven countries competing for the X prize. The winner must launch a spaceship capable of carrying three people 62.5 miles into suborbital space and repeat the feat within two weeks.
Rutan said he would probably make a decision on when to go for the prize in a few days.


And all of this, of course, is just a fraction of the total coverage.

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