SpaceShipOne has taken off!

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-09-29 10:32am

I can't believe nobody has posted this yet.

A few minutes ago, White Knight took off. In a few more minutes, SpaceShipOne will drop off and ignite its engines, flying into space and history. This is so cool. Stupid classes making me have to miss all this. Maybe my thermo prof will have pity on us...

Ma Deuce · Post by **Ma Deuce** » 2004-09-29 11:04am

Best of luck to them. If they succeed, we may very well be on the threshold of a new era, where the exploration of space becomes the territory of private companies rather than national space programs.

One can only look with nostalgia at the days of the Space Race, where mankind went from launching it's first artificial satellite to putting a man on the moon in a mere span of 12 years. As it is now, there has been no meaningful advancement in manned spaceflight technolegy since the space shuttle first launched 13 years ago. Think of where we'd be now if the space race had continued past the Apollo landings.

Perhaps in a the future with private corperations competing with each other for space exploration milestones (as the USA and USSR once did), the advancement of manned spaceflight could get on a decent tempo again, and maybe, just maybe, a Mars landing will happen sometime within my lifetime...

Butterbean569 · Post by **Butterbean569** » 2004-09-29 11:08am

I'm actually giving a speech on this in my com114 class next week, which is pretty cool.

BTW the first shuttle launched 23 years ago not 13, you proly just hit 1 instead of 2

Ma Deuce · Post by **Ma Deuce** » 2004-09-29 11:11am

you proly just hit 1 instead of 2

Yes, that would be correct...

*damn lack of edit*

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-29 11:15am

The production version of SpaceShipOne is to be called the "Virgin SpaceShip", and is to carry six (one pilot and five passengers). The cost for a flight when flights commence in 2007-08 (planned) will be $190,000 per passenger, representing an order-of-magnitude decrease from the cost of an orbital flight offered by the Russian Space Agency.

Virgin Galactic has named their first spaceship the "VSS Enterprise" (VSS standing for Virgin Spaceship). Sporking may now commence.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 11:17am

Actually, most astonomers and space/aeronautics engineers agree that there isn't really a future for manned spaceflight since robots can do it for cheaper, less cost and less risk.

The creation of Virgin Galactic is a novelty. I'd sure like to see space in my lifetime and look down at our lonely world, but other than that there's no need for man in space. It's actually more interesting to have a submarine trip around the deepest ocean depths and explore there. In space it's mostly, well, space and we're not traversing such distances to interesting stuff in our lifetime or our kids' or even their kids'.

But I do hope Rutan succeeds here today.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-29 11:19am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Actually, most astonomers and space/aeronautics engineers agree that there isn't really a future for manned spaceflight since robots can do it for cheaper, less cost and less risk.

The creation of Virgin Galactic is a novelty. I'd sure like to see space in my lifetime and look down at our lonely world, but other than that there's no need for man in space.

Except to insure the survival of the human race. You say that now, but you'll change your tune when the Gamilon Empire attacks and leaves Earth a radioactive ruin! :p

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 11:22am

Iceberg wrote: Except to insure the survival of the human race. You say that now, but you'll change your tune when the Gamilon Empire attacks and leaves Earth a radioactive ruin! :p

NEVAR!!1!

Our capitalist industry is more than a match for their death-rays and assorted battleships of much carnage.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2004-09-29 11:23am

Success! Unofficial altitude of 358,000' after the plane went into some wild rolls on the way up. It'll be back on the ground in about 10 minutes.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-29 11:32am

aerius wrote:Success! Unofficial altitude of 358,000' after the plane went into some wild rolls on the way up. It'll be back on the ground in about 10 minutes.

Hmm, between this and the last flight, I suspect that the spacecraft has insufficient roll stabilization. They'll have to fix that before they start building the first production Virgin SpaceShip.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-09-29 11:47am

I'm waiting for the Inflatable privately owned spacestation myself.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-29 11:48am

"The trajectory was good, the roll was off," said Dick Rutan, a test pilot and brother of Burt Rutan, the SpaceShipOne designer. "I was worried. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be."

Hmm, looks like them big gummint heads might have had a better idea what they were doing than people thought.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 11:52am

Whatever happened to shooting a guy in a shell out of a cannon? I thought Verne was onto a winner with that one.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-09-29 12:01pm

Actually, most astonomers and space/aeronautics engineers agree that there isn't really a future for manned spaceflight since robots can do it for cheaper, less cost and less risk.

Probes are swell, but they have limitations and it's hard to fix them once they're out there. You don't have humans on hand to fix them like you do on a manned spacecraft. If we ever want a human presence in space we're going to have to kick the probe habit.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 12:09pm

Joe wrote: Probes are swell, but they have limitations and it's hard to fix them once they're out there. You don't have humans on hand to fix them like you do on a manned spacecraft. If we ever want a human presence in space we're going to have to kick the probe habit.

We can breed a particularly smart type of Jack Russell to solve that problem.

LapsedPacifist · Post by **LapsedPacifist** » 2004-09-29 12:29pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
We can breed a particularly smart type of Jack Russell to solve that problem.

Oh great, and when they evolve and force us to fetch their space frisbees?

LP

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 12:39pm

LapsedPacifist wrote:
Oh great, and when they evolve and force us to fetch their space frisbees?

LP

That's when we release the geneered mongooses, because if I recall my environmental biology classes correctly, the Jack Russell is their arch nemesis.

Or it may have been some sort of snake, I don't know.

Mutant Headcrab · Post by **Mutant Headcrab** » 2004-09-29 12:55pm

Lonestar wrote:I'm waiting for the Inflatable privately owned spacestation myself.

Forgive my ignorance, but isn't there a chance of inflatable things getting puntured? I skimmed through the article, but didn't see anything along those lines.

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2004-09-29 12:57pm

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996463
It's on the ground and safe.
Looks like things have worked out. May the new Xprize winner go forward with their work.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-09-29 01:06pm

Iceberg wrote:The production version of SpaceShipOne is to be called the "Virgin SpaceShip", and is to carry six (one pilot and five passengers). The cost for a flight when flights commence in 2007-08 (planned) will be $190,000 per passenger, representing an order-of-magnitude decrease from the cost of an orbital flight offered by the Russian Space Agency.

Yes, but the VSS is a suborbital flight with an order-of-magnitude decrease in delta-V neccessary

Iceberg wrote:Except to insure the survival of the human race. You say that now, but you'll change your tune when the Gamilon Empire attacks and leaves Earth a radioactive ruin! :p

SPACE BATTLESHIP IOWA shall crush the infidels!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-09-29 01:21pm

Phong, what about Michael? Crusher of green hippies and space elephants alike.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-09-29 02:30pm

Iceberg wrote:"The trajectory was good, the roll was off," said Dick Rutan, a test pilot and brother of Burt Rutan, the SpaceShipOne designer. "I was worried. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be."

Hmm, looks like them big gummint heads might have had a better idea what they were doing than people thought.

According to the live interview that is happening right now by the pilot himself, all the rolling around was entirely his doing.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-09-29 02:32pm

Iceberg wrote:"The trajectory was good, the roll was off," said Dick Rutan, a test pilot and brother of Burt Rutan, the SpaceShipOne designer. "I was worried. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be."

Hmm, looks like them big gummint heads might have had a better idea what they were doing than people thought.

Mike Melville says it was pilot error that caused the roll (yes, he was the pilot), but the ship performed well. And considering he'd only flown to space once, I think we can forgive a little mistake on his part.

A timeline of the event:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ss1/status.html

Mike Melville wrote:Now that was fun!

Korvan · Post by **Korvan** » 2004-09-29 03:12pm

Iceberg wrote:The production version of SpaceShipOne is to be called the "Virgin SpaceShip", and is to carry six (one pilot and five passengers). The cost for a flight when flights commence in 2007-08 (planned) will be $190,000 per passenger, representing an order-of-magnitude decrease from the cost of an orbital flight offered by the Russian Space Agency.

Virgin Galactic has named their first spaceship the "VSS Enterprise" (VSS standing for Virgin Spaceship). Sporking may now commence.

The problem with this new price is that is now possible for me to sell everything I own and go into debt up to my eyeballs to buy a ticket. At least when it was 20 million there was no temptation as it was totally out of reach.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-09-29 11:50pm

As FUBAR as things can get on this dinky little planet, we still move forward. It does the heart good.

Freedom, immortality, and the stars, baby.

I've got the perfect spots picked out for my estates on the Moon and Mars, btw. I'd have to dig out the maps, because it's been so damn long that I forgot the name of the terrain features, but the Martian estate will have an great view of Olympus Mons...