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Home Front: Tech
SpaceShipOne To Start Flights Today
2004-09-29
SpaceShipOne, the craft that in June became the first private vehicle to take a person into space, is expected to return to flight this morning. Takeoff is set for 9:47 EST.
FoxNews has live coverage.
Pilot Michael Melvill, who became the first private astronaut in June, and weight equivalent to two people will be on board. The expected launch is the first of two scheduled flights that would earn the team -- led by designer Burt Rutan and financed largely by Microsoft's Paul Allen -- a $10 million prize for being the first to fly three people -- or one person and two dummies -- into space twice in two weeks.SpaceShipOne will head aloft underneath White Knight, a carrier aircraft. The larger craft will climb for about an hour and release the space vehicle above 45,000 feet. Then, a rocket will fire and the craft will head toward an expected peak more than 60 miles above the Mojave Desert. Such a flight would meet half the requirements for the Ansari X-Prize. Another flight could occur within seven days.
Posted by:Steve

#24  From Spaceflight Now: Mike Melvill just told reporters gathered at the runway that it was pilot error that caused the unplanned roll during the rocket engine firing of today's launch. He said SpaceShipOne performed properly and he was never worried during the flight, knowing he could damp out the roll motion. Once he knew the 62-mile target altitude would be reached, he commanded the engine to shut down. The cutoff occurred 11 seconds early.
Burt Rutan says the data will be examined closely, but at this point officials expect to conduct the second X Prize launch attempt within the next two weeks as required for the contest.
Melvill quipped that the craft just needs to be refueled and it'll be ready to go.
Posted by: Steve   2004-09-29 1:58:05 PM  

#23  1 down 1 to go...
Posted by: BigEd   2004-09-29 1:42:31 PM  

#22  If it works, tax it.
Posted by: Jimmuah   2004-09-29 1:40:24 PM  

#21  server clock 2 min slow, heh

rolling to a stop...

phreakin awesome!
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:33:48 AM  

#20  touchdown at 11:34
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:32:55 AM  

#19  gear down - looks good
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:32:30 AM  

#18  on approach now...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:31:16 AM  

#17  I didn't see it "flip" - only spin...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:30:04 AM  

#16  about 2.5 min to touchdown...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:29:33 AM  

#15  Uh, looks like they did a tail-for-tail spin at one point, to judge from the cockpit footage they're watching over in our conference room.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2004-09-29 11:28:40 AM  

#14  Chase plane has taken up station alongside... filming the craft as it comes down...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:27:02 AM  

#13  Gorgeous... Perfect descent...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:22:15 AM  

#12  Descent looks perfect - totally under control - and it's beautiful.

Saying the 2nd flight may be next Monday.
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:18:23 AM  

#11  Sorry! :-/
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:17:37 AM  

#10  Looking great...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:15:57 AM  

#9  .com, no fair! I have to wait for internet updates...
Posted by: nada   2004-09-29 11:15:29 AM  

#8  Descent is stable so far
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:14:13 AM  

#7  Here's the link for updated coverage:

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize_full_coverage.html#wind

(I'm not smart enough to get the "link" function to work.)
Posted by: nada   2004-09-29 11:13:23 AM  

#6  Reached apogee - at 100KM as planned
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:13:03 AM  

#5  Stabilized, now...
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:11:23 AM  

#4  Shutoff
Craft is "spinning" at slow rate - not good
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:10:32 AM  

#3  Good Sep
Good Ignition
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 11:08:55 AM  

#2  Separation in at approx 11:00 EST
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 10:16:13 AM  

#1  Took off at 10:11 EST...

Live on FoxNews
Posted by: .com   2004-09-29 10:11:38 AM  

00:00