June 4, 2004
Private Astronauts and the Public is Invited
Burt Rutan and Paul Allen's venture for the X-prise, the White Knight and Space Ship One combination, are going to perform the first manned sub-orbital hop that is not backed by a government. Not only that, but the public is invited to see this even down in Mohave, CA.
Composites' SpaceShipOne will attempt to become the world's first commercial, manned space vehicle during a June 21 launch on at Mojave Airport in California. From its carrier aircraft White Knight, the privately developed spacecraft will launch at about 50,000 feet MSL above the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test Center and aim for suborbital space-defined as 100 kilometers (62 miles)-and thus go where no non-governmental manned aircraft has gone before. Conceived by EAA homebuilding pioneer Burt Rutan, built by his company Scaled Composites, and backed by investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, White Knight/SpaceShipOne will then try for the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE later in the year. That will require three people to be taken to 100 km and back twice within two weeks.
On May 13, Mike Melvill was at the controls of SpaceShipOne when it reached 211,400 feet (approximately 40 miles), the highest altitude ever reached by a non-government aerospace program. The pilot for the June 21 flight, who has not yet been announced, will become the first person to earn astronaut wings in a non-government sponsored vehicle, and the first private civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere.
June 21, 2004. Save the date.
Posted by elkaim at June 4, 2004 11:38 AM