SpaceShipOne Scheduled for Second Flight 10/4/2004

[dreada5]

CNN.com:<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Pilot Brian Binnie reported a shaky flight with "a little roll" but did not experience the 29 rolls Mike Melvill experienced last week.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote>

 

[starfhury]

Not only did they win the X-Prize, they broke the X-15 altitude record by 13000 ft!.<br /><br />To top it off, Burt had some scaffing remarks about the established companies. He's going to kick their nuts in! Go, Burt! He's given everyone a monster wake up call.<br /><br /><br />His next project for Virgin is a five seater which is supposed to be 100 times safer than anything! Incredible! This is truly inspirational.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dreada5]

Did you hear Burt Rutan's speech? WOW!!! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p> They're [big aerospace companies] screwed [now]!!<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />I loved it!! People like Burt REALLY push the boundaries on whats considered acceptable, the norm etc.<br /><br />He said he had to do this and he has to do more and its great coz it now pushes everyone to do more!<br /><br />IMO it puts the pressure on the larger aerospace companies ie Boeing, Lockheed etc to perform also.<br /><br />Burt's the man!!!

 

[dreada5]

Also did you know:<br /><br />ON THIS DAY: 'Sputnik' satellite blasts into space<br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/4/newsid_2685000/2685115.stm

 

[lunatic133]

<b><br />I missed it!<br /><br />Unoffical Apogee at 69.6969696969696969696969696969... miles </b><br /><br />A bit ironic for a spaceliner for a company called virgin galactic *snick*

 

[wvbraun]

Fantastic! Congratulations to Burt Rutan, Brian Binnie and all the others who pulled it off. <br /><br />Do you think Feeney will still attempt a launch within the next two weeks or so?

 

[aaron38]

Correct me if I remembered the wrong number, but I think on the Black Sky show last night, Rutan gave a figure of every pound shaved off SSO give an aditional 150 ft. of max altitude.<br /><br />So dropping 400 pounds... 400x150 = 60,000 ft???? WOW!

 

[bobvanx]

So a lightened SS1 could get to 80 miles up?<br /><br />Wow.<br /><br />Um, that would surely subject the pilot to more than 5G's on reentry... WAG: 7?

 

[grooble]

This video feed is downright Amateur. They cut into the damn press conference, and then you hear them moaning about what they'll read out next. What a let down, i was really enjoying listening to Rutan, but now we get this drivel. <br /><br />edit: ok its back, but they cut out Rutan, that was rude of them. <br /><br />Well done scaled! Can't wait to see whats next.<br /><br /><br />

 

[dreada5]

SS2-Orbital here we come!! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />So much for the doubters.<br /><br />Everything is possible!!<br /><br />

 

[bobvanx]

Yeah, you bet Brian was super alert on this landing. Didn't want to break the landing gear again.<br /><br />It wasn't his fault last time, but still, a pilot hates to break his ship.

 

[najab]

Yeah. And now she's going to study astrophysics: make that <b>very</b> brainy! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

 

[bobvanx]

<font color="yellow">He came in hot the first time.</font><br /><br />They also explained why: the trim was stuck, and it would have required 12 lbs of force to break the stick free. Binnie, responsibly, didn't want to put that much force into it that close to landing.

 

[radarredux]

> <i><font color="yellow">They also explained why .... </font>/i><br /><br />I thought he was just going for the third wire.</i>

 

[halman]

ZeroGeezus,<br /><br />When comparing the SpaceShip One suborbital flight with the Mercury suborbital flights, one must remember that the term"suborbital" can be used to to describe two very different flights.<br /><br />SpaceShip One goes straight up, and comes straight back down. There is very little down range velocity. This is to minimize the heating to the vehicle.<br /><br />If you take off from Florida and land off the coast of California 50 minutes later, that is also a suborbital flight, even though peak altitude was as high as an orbit, and peak velocity is several miles per second. I cannot remember, but it seems to me that both of the Mercury suborbital flights landed in the Indian Ocean, only about 15 minutes after launch. I think that testing the heat shield was part of the flight.<br /><br />Spaceship One is a cool vehicle, and the flights are awesome. But they are a very, very long way from approaching what the Mercury guys did on their suborbital flights. Of course, they were 'Spam in the can', with hardly any say in where they were going, other than when the re-entry burn started. SpaceShip One has to be piloted, from ignition to roll-out.<br /><br />I think that we will see a totally different configuration of vehicle when Rutan starts taking on that several-miles-per-second down range velocity. We may also see a completey different type of rocket, as well. It is easy to call NASA names, but building the hardware to do what they do is neither cheap nor easy. I am sure that Rutan can do it, along with the engineers who work with him, as long as Paul Allen is willing to spend a good chunk of his fortune.<br /><br />NASA was never given the objective to get people into space cheaply and with a minimum of hardware. They have always had much more difficult goals to fulfill. Had they been directed to come up with a simple, reliable, inexpensive launch system 20 years ago, they would have. But the name of the game these days is keeping the contractors a <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"...both of the Mercury suborbital flights landed in the Indian Ocean..."</font><br /><br />Actually, it was the Atlantic.<br /><br />According to astronautix.com, both Freedom 7 and Liberty Bell 7 splashed down 302 miles (487 km) downrange. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[kmarinas86]

That one problem of being "too good" than others may think you deserve ... =?

 

[sloracer]

I hope some of you saw the interview on Leno's show tonight. Burt Rutan and Mike Melvill, two really nice guys, so down to earth when they've done so much in Space!

 

[scottb50]

I know they have talked about being able to reach 70-80 miles with SS1 but has anyone heard a maximum that the design could reach. Obviously the higher they go the faster they are when they re-enter and the higher the heat load. Since the Mercury suborbital flights reached a little under 120 miles I wonder if that would be do-able thermally, the other question would be how much added propellant capability they have of course. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[arobie]

It looked like they played the first part before it. If I would have know, I would have watched it. Then they played the second part which was only an hour. It was a great documentary!