SpaceShipOne Makes it!

[Kingairrick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20040621/ts_nm/space_flight_dc

Pretty cool.

 

[Nikes]

Ya that was awsome



62 miles stirght up, mach 3+ with a final approach speed of 90 kts, and accoarding to the FAA the pilot is to old to fly airliners around.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

yup, and all for the cost of a typical government paper study.

what NASA was many many years ago.

pretty neat.

 

[Nova]

I hear JO has already bid for the new flying and will be able to do it for half the price. Of course his astronauts will be 300 hour private pilots working for free.

 

[Skygod]

Very very cool!

And yeah, Mike Melvill was single-pilot rocketing 62 miles up, earning the title astonaut, then glided down . . . but would not be allowed to fly a B-737 with a co-pilot.

Great coverage at www.Space.com

 

[PurpleInMEM]

"And yeah, Mike Melvill was single-pilot rocketing 62 miles up, earning the title astonaut, then glided down . . . but would not be allowed to fly a B-737 with a co-pilot."

and our seniority is better because of it...

 

[Timebuilder]

...but your public perception of being too frail and unreliable to fly as you approach age sixty means that someone may get the bright idea to further limit your ability to fly by lowering the age for cutoff. That could conceivably limit your becoming vested in a pension plan, or just your ablity to earn a living.

But seniority isn't about ability or fairness, is it?

 

[BornAgainPagan]

...but your public perception of being too frail and unreliable to fly as you approach age sixty means that someone may get the bright idea to further limit your ability to fly by lowering the age for cutoff. That could conceivably limit your becoming vested in a pension plan, or just your ablity to earn a living.

But seniority isn't about ability or fairness, is it?

Ability? No. Fairness? Yes.

 

[XGmaninGA]

So when can I apply for my ATP Spaceplane- Single-engine-rocket rating?

 

[jarhead]

Does anyone know for certain the exact altitude achieved? I was watching the news about this effort as it was underway, and a spokesman stated that
the flight was being tracked by both China Lake and another radar site. He said the altitude would be verified within plus or minus "inches" of the goal of 62 miles. They said later that the exact altitude would be given to the public a short time after it landed, but so far I've not seen it.

Quite an accomplishment, in any event.