SpaceShipOne First Flight

Visual Novel Community Off Topic
#1

I cannot believe that the first non-governmental spaceship flew two days ago and for the most part did not get a lot of splash in the papers the next day or as opening news story on television.

This could be history, is history, could someday be looked back on as the first step toward a real Starship Enterprise, such as the Wright Brothers first flight can be seen as a first step toward the Concorde, and yet people are seemingly ignoring this event for a large part and instead just focusing talk mostly on increasing deaths in Iraq.

So is it just me that finds it strange that this event got some press but was not front page news or given larger coverage on most networks considering it is an historic event for the first ever non governmental launch of spacecraft (it did reach about 65 miles up which is a low orbit) and for slightly cheaper then NASA has ever done it?

[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 06-23-2004).]

#2

I’ve been following the X-prize story off and on for the last couple years, but hadn’t heard that Paul Allen’s ship had successfully flown. Congratulations to him and his team, and I wish them luck on their future efforts. Maybe this will discourage some of those working on pressurized tin can designs from putting lives at risk.

That there was so little coverage is mainly due to lack of public awareness of the ‘private space race’. Suborbital space flight is at least 40 years old, and the Germans flew manned rocket planes in WWII. The only claim to fame I’ve read about X-prize projects is that they’re not directly sponsored by government funding. The only application I’ve heard proposed is $100K roller coaster rides for those who can afford them. One wonders how long the supply of thrill-seeking multimillionaires will last.

Those who think this ‘opens the door’ to private space travel probably don’t have a clue about the enormous differences in hardware and logistical requirements for suborbital vs orbital flight. The public feels that it has been oversold on the benefits of manned space flight. Something like this gets classified as a stunt.

[This message has been edited by perigee (edited 06-23-2004).]

#3

Really? My yahoo news been splashing news about it for the past few days. Course I do have an affinity for space stuff Heard they found some problems with the ship after it landed after this last flight and might not be able to win the x-prize this year. This is the 2nd time they took the ship to the edge of space.

#4

They won’t be trying for the X Prize in the immediate future. The pilot briefly lost control of the craft, but it happened to be at a point in the flight where he could safely regain control. He said that it it had happened at certain other points in the flight, he’d be very dead. So obviously they’re going to be worried about that. ^____^

#5
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
Those who think this 'opens the door' to private space travel probably don't have a clue about the enormous differences in hardware and logistical requirements for suborbital vs orbital flight. The public feels that it has been oversold on the benefits of manned space flight. Something like this gets classified as a stunt.

[This message has been edited by perigee (edited 06-23-2004).]

I don't know about that, the same could have been said and might have been about the Wright Brothers first flight. Yes the difference is space travel somewhat exists now and flight did not as such then, but in truth that first flight of thiers was a stunt and eventually lead to other things like overseas air travel, it took a while but it happened.

In truth to me this is the same it will lead to other ways to fly in space and I seriously think NASA has been over-selling some of the difficulities over the years, because they have made it more difficult through slight ineptitude. As tragic as it is I site launching the Challenger in weather they were told not to launch. So yes it is not a simple thing and yes it is dangerous but so is crossing any street in any city, so is driving on any major road, this is merely a first step, a baby one.

Which is why this event was still undersold in my opinion because it was the first "public" if you will space flight and yes it had some trouble but so did the Mercury capsules when they were first built. So did the Spaceshuttle when it was first built, it will take a long time perhaps but it is a first step. Remember too outside of NASA people have the advantage of not being tied to governmental fixed inside the box thinking and being able to innovate which could lead to public space travel quicker then anyone here realizes.

For the record too I heard they wanted to correct those problems ASAP and try for the X-Prize, that much I heard, have the problems fixed and launch again within 2 weeks time.

[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 06-24-2004).]

#7
#8