Space Ship One Launch

SS1 landed first- WK did a flyby and a nice break over the runway before
landing about 10 minutes later.

--
Jim Atkins
Twentynine Palms, CA USA

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx

"Jim Thomas" wrote in message
m...
I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

Jim Thomas


Burt Rutan made reference to a "shirt sleeve" environment in the
cockpit...so I guess it was pressurized.

Jay B in AZ

"Jim Atkins" wrote in message
...
SS1 landed first- WK did a flyby and a nice break over the runway before
landing about 10 minutes later.

Any report of this flight on the net?

and, what kind of aircraft is the White Knight?

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
news:5YQBc.7235$5t2.7155@fed1read01...
"Jim Thomas" wrote in message
m...
I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

Jim Thomas


Burt Rutan made reference to a "shirt sleeve" environment in the
cockpit...so I guess it was pressurized.


If he went any higher than about 55,000 feet is was.

"Teacherjh" wrote in message
What's a wave window? Can I use it to go into space with an Archer?

Only if you junk the engine and add a little span. A Grob will get you
higher than an Archer.

"Pete" wrote in message
...

"Jim Atkins" wrote in message
...
Glenn and Shepard in the sense of seeing a real first-

Let's not forget Yuri in there.

And don't forget Leika, who probably had as much
say in the matter as Yuri. Even though she had twice
the number of legs, she had only a one-way ticket poor
thing.

Just that the comparison of John Glenn and Alan Shepard wasn't really
analogous to Melvil's flight. Melvil actually flew the thing and landed it.
Therefore, it was more like the X-15 pilots than the Mercury astronauts or
the cosmonauts. (usual disclaimer here about everyone being brave, etc.)



"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"John Shelton" wrote in message
ink.net...

Nice write up. A correction: Not Glenn and Shephard.


What correction? Not Glenn and Shepard for what?

Jim Thomas wrote:

I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

If he wasn't in a pressure suit, the cabin had to have been pressurized or he would
not have been able to survive.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Jim Thomas wrote:

I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

If he wasn't in a pressure suit, the cabin had to have been pressurized or
he would
not have been able to survive.

During the post event news conference, I asked those questions. Mr.
Melvill's responses we no, he does not wear anything other than flight
suit, helmet, and parachute; yes, the cabin is pressurized [to 14 psi]; it
is tested at 34 psi for a number of hours; the only leaks are at control
interfaces and they are tiny; one pre-launch check item is cracking open a
valve from an air-bottle to trickle air into the cabin. He said the dual
pane windows and tight fit of the door are excellent and he does not
consider depressurization a risk to consider.

"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
...

During the post event news conference, I asked those questions. Mr.
Melvill's responses we no, he does not wear anything other than flight
suit, helmet, and parachute; yes, the cabin is pressurized [to 14 psi]; it
is tested at 34 psi for a number of hours; the only leaks are at control
interfaces and they are tiny; one pre-launch check item is cracking open a
valve from an air-bottle to trickle air into the cabin. He said the dual
pane windows and tight fit of the door are excellent and he does not
consider depressurization a risk to consider.


Yeah, and a DC-10 can't lose all it's hydraulics.