SpaceShipOne!! by Calhoun

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

SpaceShipOne!!

POSTED BY: CALHOUN
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 6, 2004 12:48
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VIEWED: 3491
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Sunday, October 3, 2004 11:41 PM

Is anyone else as excited by the recent successes of Burt Rutan's X-Prize contender SpaceShipOne?

Richard Branson has formed a new company called "Virgin Galactic" and is throwing large sums of cash at Scaled Composites and expects to be flying tourists into space by 2007 for around 200K a ticket. I know this is still expensive but the revenue generated will be going straight back into the technology and costs will come down. I firmly believe it possible I might make it into space before I die, something that didnt seem very likely only a short while ago.

This is a momentous time, the dawn of a new era.

I am truly mystified by how little "air time" this story gets on the news...

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Monday, October 4, 2004 1:00 AM

CALHOUN

bump..

This is humanitys' biggest milestone I can think of.. Time to get excited people!!

Have you checked out the flight video of the first official run? look here! http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/video/x-prize-flight-1.wmv

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Monday, October 4, 2004 1:03 AM

CALHOUN

Hmmm.. the link doesnt seem to work...

Just go to Scaled Composites web site and download it. ITS AWESOME!

http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/

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Monday, October 4, 2004 2:27 AM

BARNEYT

Also of note for the SpaceShipOne launch was the presence of co-pilot bear Terence, released from his tour of duty with the RAF to accompany SpaceShipOne on this awesome flight. When he returns home to England, he'll be auctioned to raise money for the Air Ambulance in Cumbria

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3697538.stm

---
"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing

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Monday, October 4, 2004 2:33 AM

SIMONF

I rather think this is a publicity gimmick by Branson, he can't even get Virgin trains running properly in the UK.

But regardless of that, there is a very important role for the private sector in space flights.

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Monday, October 4, 2004 2:43 AM

CALHOUN

Quote:
SimonF wrote:
Monday, October 04, 2004 02:33
I rather think this is a publicity gimmick by Branson, he can't even get Virgin trains running properly in the UK.

The deal has been inked and the ink has dried.

I am stoked that someone with MONEY has come to the party. I Wish Bill Gates would throw a couple of Billion at this.

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Monday, October 4, 2004 4:31 AM

EVILTOBZ

you're right on the bill gates thing. most of the vocal microsoft haters are probably wetting themselves at the idea of affordable commercial space flight, i know i am. seeing the evil empire throwing money at something like this would probably gain them a lot of credibility from such people as well as just being huge advertising in general.

just hope they aren't running the flight systems on windows :)

---------------------------------------------
eviltobz - that's lowercase gorram it!

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Monday, October 4, 2004 4:33 AM

BARNEYT

SpaceShipOne's taking it's second flight today - if this one is ratified, it wins the X-Prize

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3712998.stm

(no mention of whether Terence is going up in this one or not though...

)

---
"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing

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Monday, October 4, 2004 5:41 AM

BLUESUNWORSHIPPER

Quote:
Originally posted by Calhoun:
Is anyone else as excited by the recent successes of Burt Rutan's X-Prize contender SpaceShipOne?

Richard Branson has formed a new company called "Virgin Galactic" and is throwing large sums of cash at Scaled Composites and expects to be flying tourists into space by 2007 for around 200K a ticket. I know this is still expensive but the revenue generated will be going straight back into the technology and costs will come down. I firmly believe it possible I might make it into space before I die, something that didnt seem very likely only a short while ago.

This is a momentous time, the dawn of a new era.

I am truly mystified by how little "air time" this story gets on the news...

...and did you ALSO know that Branson is going to name the FIRST Virgin Galactic spaceship to be made for the company the "VSS Enterprise"? It is absolutely true, I read it on www.nwcn.com when they broke the story. It's a proud day for us geeks everywhere.

God, I love it!

- T

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Monday, October 4, 2004 10:39 AM

MISTRESSOFUSELESSKNOWLEDGE

MASSIVE BUMP!!!

Space Ship One did it! With hundreds of feet to spare! Oh, it is a great day for space enthusiasts and geeks alike. The Science Channel ran full coverage the whole time, from 9am until about 3 pm EST. It was awesome! I watched it on Wednesday and today, and was very excited to see some good history being made, instead of tragic history. The Science Channel and Discovery Channel are going to run some documentaries about Ruttan and Scaled Composites this week, and a documentary about these flights later this month. Catch it if you can!
WOO HOO!!!

Mistress of Useless Knowledge

"Gravity.
It's not just a good idea;
It's the Law."

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Monday, October 4, 2004 12:12 PM

KASUO

::starts saving money for flight on VSS Enterprise::

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Monday, October 4, 2004 12:22 PM

THERON

Right behind you on that Kasuo. Didn't really think this would happan in my lifetime so I can only say one thing.....

SHINY!

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Monday, October 4, 2004 12:51 PM

NEDWARD

I think it's double shiny. I was so excited to follow the news today!

It's a good thing Virgin is a brand, not an ethos, or the Galactic venture would be doomed.

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Monday, October 4, 2004 1:21 PM

TMURRIE

Wait, so you're telling me there's gonna be flights to space? Well I guess I'll have to stop welding random pieces of scrap metal together in my back yard, in hopes of creating a workable space ship.

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Monday, October 4, 2004 1:36 PM

CYBERSNARK

Ladies, gentles. . .

'Kay, folks

, I propose a toast (of whatever alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage of your choice) to the dawning of a new age of human ingenuity.

SpaceShipOne has proven that it can be done. Not just by government resources, not just by big business. Normal men and women (and anthropomorphic bears) have reached beyond this spinning rock, and claimed a prize for everyone who dreams of something more. They have done the impossible, and we (of all people) know what that means.

Now, what can we do to top this. . .

Here's to learning to crawl.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Monday, October 4, 2004 1:43 PM

CALHOUN

Quote:
Cybersnark wrote:
Monday, October 04, 2004 13:36

Now, what can we do to top this. . .

I read that a prize of 50 million dollars is now on offer for the first privately built ship to orbit the planet with tourists aboard. My money is on Scaled Composites.

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Tuesday, October 5, 2004 7:40 AM

FIREFLYGAL

Hey BarneyT

I know who the Co-Pilot for the second SpaceShipOne flight was, it was Klyde Morris, aviation's only ant www.klydemorris.com. Got confirmation from Burt Rutan himself that Klyde was to be on the flight. Don't know where he'll reside after that heady flight though.

This is a day I'll be happy to be me and congratulate the real life BDH's. Now I better start saving every gorram penny to buy a ticket.

By the way, Paul Allen, who was co-founder of Microsoft donated much to Scaled Composites.

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Wednesday, October 6, 2004 12:48 PM

SHINYLETO

Yes indeed, this is one helluva moment! The great thing is, not only has Scaled Composites achieved practical commercial space flight, the other contenders for the X-Prize aren't giving up. The Canadian da Vinci project, which will use the Wildfire rocket launched from a balloon, is still going strong, as are numerous other former X-Prize hopefuls. My question is, what will the first commercial space travellers do? There's no where they can really go. I'm certainly not knocking the experience of going into space, its one of my greatest dreams. But what's the end goal of the commercial spaceflight industry? It can't just be not-so-cheap thrills.

http://blackbirdcomic.keenspace.com/

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