SpaceShipOne

[AXXESS]

I was lucky enough to see SpaceShipOne in person this week at the EAA convention, and see pilot Mike Melville describe the Ansari X-Prize flights... incredible!

http://www.hvac-training.net/ss1.jpg

Designer Burt Rutan, pilot Brian Binnie, and Paul Allen were all there, as well as Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic... incredible to say the least.

Details of SpaceShipOne at the EAA (http://www.airventure.org/2005/wedjuly27/ss1_arrival.html)

Commercial space travel will soon be available! Apparently about 100 celebs (and other wealthy individuals) have paid the $200,000 US fee to be included in the first series of commercial space flights starting in 2008... Richard Branson mentioned that Victoria Principal and "a very well known space captain" will be among the first....

Virgin Galactic (http://www.virgingalactic.com/en/default.asp)

:yes :yes

[Lorne]

Does Burt still sport his funky sideburns? :)

To think he's come this far from those tiny ads for Scaled Composites kits in the back of Kitplanes magazines in the early 80s...too cool.

[AXXESS]

Yeah, Burt still has his funky sideburns. Very intelligent man, yet seemingly very modest. I wish I could have been there when he did a presentation. His designs are most definitely unique.

Here is another Rutan's designs that was present, the Starship.

http://www.hvac-training.net/eaa2.jpg

Here is a shot from Mike Melville's presentation, discussing the controls in SpaceShipOne and how he dealt with the 29 rolls during ascent during one of the X-Prize flights.

http://www.hvac-training.net/eaa1.jpg

:yes