SpaceshipOne, Government Zero
Well, in case you havent heard, we have entered a new frontier in space travel, that of private sector flights. I wasn't lucky enough to be at Mojave Airport on June 21, but I managed to watch the live webcast of the launch of SpaceshipOne on MSNBC. It has been a long time coming, but this is truly a landmark achievement. The first privately-funded, privately-built, and privately-piloted space vehicle crossed the 62-mile "space threshold", and marked the dawn of non-government space travel! Check out the article and video here.
Private spaceflight has been an interest of mine for years, and when Dennis Tito became the first space "tourist" in 2001, I thought that would be the opening of the floodgates. Remember though that Mr. Tito rode to the International Space Station aboard a Russian government rocket, and had to pay $20 million to fund his flight. What we are seeing now, 3 years later, is an entirely new animal. There was no government funding for SpaceshipOne's construction or flight. It was not launched from a military installation or large complex rocket facility, but from a civilian airport under the wings of a custom-built aircraft. The White Knight mothership flew to an altitude of 47,000 feet, where it released SpaceshipOne, which then fired up it's rocket engines for the final stretch into outer space.
SpaceshipOne was designed and built by Scaled Composites, one of the entrants for the Ansari X-Prize, a $10-million dollar reward for the first company to build and launch a private craft into space twice in two weeks. The deadline for this feat is the end of this year. I have been following the X-Prize competition since shortly after its inception in 1996.
With the groundbreaking flight of SpaceshipOne on June 21, 2004, we have witnessed the dawn of a new era of spaceflight, one in which
everyone can hopefully take part. How long until I can fly to space for $50? Only time will tell...
Private spaceflight has been an interest of mine for years, and when Dennis Tito became the first space "tourist" in 2001, I thought that would be the opening of the floodgates. Remember though that Mr. Tito rode to the International Space Station aboard a Russian government rocket, and had to pay $20 million to fund his flight. What we are seeing now, 3 years later, is an entirely new animal. There was no government funding for SpaceshipOne's construction or flight. It was not launched from a military installation or large complex rocket facility, but from a civilian airport under the wings of a custom-built aircraft. The White Knight mothership flew to an altitude of 47,000 feet, where it released SpaceshipOne, which then fired up it's rocket engines for the final stretch into outer space.
SpaceshipOne was designed and built by Scaled Composites, one of the entrants for the Ansari X-Prize, a $10-million dollar reward for the first company to build and launch a private craft into space twice in two weeks. The deadline for this feat is the end of this year. I have been following the X-Prize competition since shortly after its inception in 1996.
With the groundbreaking flight of SpaceshipOne on June 21, 2004, we have witnessed the dawn of a new era of spaceflight, one in which
everyone can hopefully take part. How long until I can fly to space for $50? Only time will tell...
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