the buzz

The buzz is that SpaceShipOne shoots tomorrow.

I'm going to be freezing my ass off out there with my binoculars. I missed
the Wright Bros. I missed Jimmy Doolittle doing the outside loop. I missed
Yeager breaking Mach One. I missed Armstrong walking on the moon. I missed
the Voyager flying around the earth nonstop.

I am not missing this one.

Get the money, Burt...and Godspeed.

I hope they do go today, but here's a statement on their web site
(www.scaled.com):
Contrary to information you may have read in magazines or other websites
about our schedule for the first flight of SpaceShipOne to space, Scaled
Composites has never announced an advance schedule for any flight tests of
SpaceShipOne and White Knight. The rumors you may have heard about when we
plan significant milestones were merely a guess that was made by one
magazine and then reprinted by others.


Occasionally we do have media events, like our April rollout, and may have a
media event related to a future SpaceShipOne milestone. If you are a member
of the media, and wish to be notified via email of any upcoming media
events, please send your full name, the press organization you represent,
and your email address to . We will try to notify you two to
three weeks in advance of any planned media event at Scaled

"John Shelton" wrote in message
nk.net...
The buzz is that SpaceShipOne shoots tomorrow.

I'm going to be freezing my ass off out there with my binoculars. I missed
the Wright Bros. I missed Jimmy Doolittle doing the outside loop. I missed
Yeager breaking Mach One. I missed Armstrong walking on the moon. I missed
the Voyager flying around the earth nonstop.

I am not missing this one.

Get the money, Burt...and Godspeed.

Boom and zoom. 15 second burn. Great historical timing in exactly the right
place on the Planet Earth...the High Desert of California. I am sure Cindy
Brickner will put some photos up later.

Next time.

In article et,
"John Shelton" wrote:

The buzz is that SpaceShipOne shoots tomorrow.

Well it did ... but just a cautious envelope expansion, not an all out
100 km or bust.

A 15 second burn during a 2.5 G pull-up, took it from just under 50k
feet (I assume) and 120 knots to Mach 1.2, and then it coasted to 68,000
ft before runing out of energy.

A good flight, and history's first "homebuilt" manned supersonic flight.

-- Bruce