Cleric
22nd Jun 2004, 06:55
SA pilot makes history with space ship
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MOJAVE - SpaceShipOne, with South African Mike Melvill at the controls, became the first privately financed craft to fly into the fringes of space and return to Earth, its organisers said.
The mission, created by pioneer aviation engineer Burt Rutan and paid for by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, could become a landmark step to opening up space exploration.
The US rocket-plane went more than 100 km from the Earth's surface, said the mission control, before safely returning to Earth to be acclaimed by Rutan, Allen and tens of thousands of people waiting at Mojave airport in the California desert.
"It was a mindblowing experience," said Mike Melvill, the 62-year-old pilot.
The rocket-plane was launched from a specially made jet at an altitude of 15 km. Its engine ignited for three minutes, powering SpaceShipOne into the fringes of space before it fell back to Earth, the mission control said.
No non-government or state financed mission into space has gone as far.
Melvill gradually took control of the craft again and from 25 km altitude, it glided for about 17 minutes back to the landing.
Rutan set up a special company, Scaled Composites, to develop and build SpaceShipOne, which cost $20 million.
After his landing, Melvill, who is a vice-president of the company, paid tribute to Rutan's work.
"This could not have been done without the brilliant brain that this guy has," he said.
"He thought it out, he thought of everything to make it work and it worked exactly as he thought, even though we argued with him and threw up roadblocks."
Rutan also developed Voyager, the aircraft which in 1986 became the first to go around the world without refuelling. He also praised Allen for providing the finance and not interfering in the design process.
Rutan said some "risks" had been taken in the design of SpaceShipOne, a winged, bullet-shaped white rocket-plane that weighs about three tonnes, but that most of it had been the same as he first thought of it in 1999.
"There were three or four times during the flight when everybody (in mission control) ... I saw those people emotional."
The rocket-plane was taken off the ground by a specially made jet, dubbed "White Knight".
At 15 km, its rocket ignited for about 80 seconds, propelling SpaceShipOne upwards at a speed of about 3,500 km per hour, about three and a half times the speed of sound, to a height of some 50 km above the planet.
When the rocket's fuel had been spent, SpaceShipOne kept going up for about three minutes to its space destination.
Rutan and Allen are aiming to bring space flight within the range of the general public as well as win a prize for the first private mission beyond Earth's atmosphere.
"The flight is a milestone that may lead to a new space age," Rutan said.
"There is an enormous hunger to fly in space and not just to dream about it. The new private space entrepreneurs have a vision," he said.
"We do want our children to go to other planets."
Rutan is also eyeing a $10 million prize for the first privately funded space vehicle that can carry two passengers and a pilot to an altitude of 100 km twice in two weeks.
The Ansari X Prize has been offered by the X Prize Foundation, a US-based group, in a bid to encourage commercial space travel. About 25 teams from seven countries are said to be in contention.
AFP
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MOJAVE - SpaceShipOne, with South African Mike Melvill at the controls, became the first privately financed craft to fly into the fringes of space and return to Earth, its organisers said.
The mission, created by pioneer aviation engineer Burt Rutan and paid for by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, could become a landmark step to opening up space exploration.
The US rocket-plane went more than 100 km from the Earth's surface, said the mission control, before safely returning to Earth to be acclaimed by Rutan, Allen and tens of thousands of people waiting at Mojave airport in the California desert.
"It was a mindblowing experience," said Mike Melvill, the 62-year-old pilot.
The rocket-plane was launched from a specially made jet at an altitude of 15 km. Its engine ignited for three minutes, powering SpaceShipOne into the fringes of space before it fell back to Earth, the mission control said.
No non-government or state financed mission into space has gone as far.
Melvill gradually took control of the craft again and from 25 km altitude, it glided for about 17 minutes back to the landing.
Rutan set up a special company, Scaled Composites, to develop and build SpaceShipOne, which cost $20 million.
After his landing, Melvill, who is a vice-president of the company, paid tribute to Rutan's work.
"This could not have been done without the brilliant brain that this guy has," he said.
"He thought it out, he thought of everything to make it work and it worked exactly as he thought, even though we argued with him and threw up roadblocks."
Rutan also developed Voyager, the aircraft which in 1986 became the first to go around the world without refuelling. He also praised Allen for providing the finance and not interfering in the design process.
Rutan said some "risks" had been taken in the design of SpaceShipOne, a winged, bullet-shaped white rocket-plane that weighs about three tonnes, but that most of it had been the same as he first thought of it in 1999.
"There were three or four times during the flight when everybody (in mission control) ... I saw those people emotional."
The rocket-plane was taken off the ground by a specially made jet, dubbed "White Knight".
At 15 km, its rocket ignited for about 80 seconds, propelling SpaceShipOne upwards at a speed of about 3,500 km per hour, about three and a half times the speed of sound, to a height of some 50 km above the planet.
When the rocket's fuel had been spent, SpaceShipOne kept going up for about three minutes to its space destination.
Rutan and Allen are aiming to bring space flight within the range of the general public as well as win a prize for the first private mission beyond Earth's atmosphere.
"The flight is a milestone that may lead to a new space age," Rutan said.
"There is an enormous hunger to fly in space and not just to dream about it. The new private space entrepreneurs have a vision," he said.
"We do want our children to go to other planets."
Rutan is also eyeing a $10 million prize for the first privately funded space vehicle that can carry two passengers and a pilot to an altitude of 100 km twice in two weeks.
The Ansari X Prize has been offered by the X Prize Foundation, a US-based group, in a bid to encourage commercial space travel. About 25 teams from seven countries are said to be in contention.
AFP