SpaceShipOne successful again (PICS)
 

Privately funded manned rocket soars into space, claiming $10 million prize

MOJAVE, Calif. -- By the time test pilot Brian Binnie shut down the rocket engine on SpaceShipOne Monday morning, the view out his cockpit windows had turned from bright, desert blue to black.

Meanwhile back on Earth, almost 70 miles below, the creators of the world's first private spacecraft were beginning to see something else: dollar signs.

Half an hour later, SpaceShipOne landed safely before a cheering throng at the Mojave Airport and officially claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize, created to jump-start the space tourism industry.

It was the second successful flight into suborbital space in five days for America's Mojave Aerospace Ventures Team, enough to beat out 25 other teams vying for the prize.

But more important than the $10 million purse is what it could lead to.

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Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation, said it was no accident that Monday's flight was held on the 47th anniversary of Sputnik. Just as the launch of the Soviet satellite signaled the beginning of the space race, the success of SpaceShipOne could mark a new era in space travel as a private venture, Diamandis said.

Others were less diplomatic.

After the flawless flight, SpaceShipOne creator Burt Rutan referred to NASA as "that other space agency" and said, "I think they're probably looking at each other and saying, `We're screwed.' "

Within three years, the Mojave Aerospace Ventures Team is expected to deliver five, five-passenger spacecraft to Virgin Atlantic Airways founder Richard Branson, who popped champagne with Rutan and company after Monday's flight.

Branson recently announced the launch of Virgin Galactic Airways, on which passengers will be able to book their own suborbital flight for about $200,000 a seat. The makers of 7-Up have already announced plans to give away a ticket into space as part of a contest the company will unveil next year.

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Rutan said the goal of providing space tourism that's safer than the first commercial airline flights is now well within reach.

But who would take such a trip?

"If I had the dough, it's something I would do, absolutely," said Dr. Bill Seare Jr., a surgeon, inventor and pilot who traveled from Carlsbad, Calif., to watch SpaceShipOne fly. "This is pretty exciting. It's history in the making."

"We were comparing it to the Charles Lindbergh flight," said Las Vegas resident Gary Manning, who hitched a ride to Mojave with his brother, a flight instructor from Utah. "I tell my wife we'd sell our house, go for a ride and then be homeless."

Monday's flight, which included ballast meant to simulate the weight of two passengers, topped out at 367,442 feet, eclipsing by more than two miles a height record set by the U.S. Air Force that had stood for 31 years. It also helped Binnie join fellow SpaceShipOne test pilot Mike Melvill as the world's only commercial astronauts.

Melvill established that exclusive club on June 21 and repeated the feat on Sept. 21, complete with an unscheduled barrel roll near the top of the ascent that initially worried Mojave Aerospace team members.

There was no such roll during Monday's near-arrow-straight flight.

"You light that motor up and the world comes to life around you," Binnie said. "When the motor shuts down, you are surrounded by a darkness that's contrasted starkly by the bright pearl that is the greater California area, which is the view from up there."

As he climbed though the required height of 328,000 feet at three times the speed of sound, Binnie radioed to the control tower that he was "feeling great."

A few minutes later, as gravity began to pull the spacecraft back down, Binnie released a small paper model of SpaceShipOne to float weightless in the cockpit while he snapped a few pictures out the window.

The trip home was no picnic. During his 69-mile descent, Binnie was subjected to 5 Gs, or five times normal atmospheric pressure.

Thousands of spectators gathered along the runway before dawn to watch the flight. They cheered as the White Knight carrier aircraft taxied by with SpaceShipOne slung to its belly, and they cheered again as SpaceShipOne touched down smoothly at 8:13 a.m.

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Wayne Manning, Gary's brother, said the spectacle was more than worth the drive from Provo, Utah, about 10 hours one way.

"I watched the Web cast of Wednesday's flight, and I said I have to be there. I absolutely have to be there," he said. "This is just absolutely amazing."

Source: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../24915815.html