posted 06-21-2004 03:42 PM                    

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Private craft soars into space, history

By Michael Coren
CNN
Monday, June 21, 2004 Posted: 2:10 PM EDT (1810 GMT)

MOJAVE, California (CNN) -- SpaceShipOne left the Earth behind on Monday morning and made its indelible entry in the history books as the first private spacecraft to carry humans into space. It touched down safely at Mojave Airport at 11:15 ET.

"It looks great," said Burt Rutan, chief of Scaled Composites, which built the craft. He gave a thumbs up on the runway as he squinted into the sun at the aircraft he designed.

At 10:51 ET, Mike Melvill ignited the rocket engines and piloted SpaceShipOne into the blackness of space. His trajectory took him more than 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, above Earth's surface, according to Scaled Composites flight officials.

"It was a mind-blowing experience, it really was -- absolutely an awesome thing," Melvill said after landing.

"The colors were pretty staggering. From up there, it's almost a religious experience."

Melvill said once he reached weightlessness, he opened a bag of M&M's in the cockpit that floated around for three minutes while the ship sailed high above California.

The rocket plane lifted off about 9:45 ET carried by the jet White Knight for an hourlong ascent.

At 10:35 ET, it reached 33,000 feet and the pilot reported all systems checked out for its space launch.

It received clearance to land and "go for light" -- the signal to begin launch countdown -- at 10:46 ET.

The pair approached 50,000 feet a few minutes later and SpaceShipOne decoupled from the jet. After a brief glide, Melvill ignited the engines and ascended at Mach 3, three times the speed of sound, into space.

From the cockpit, the curvature of the Earth and a thin blue line that demarcates our atmosphere was visible against the black sky. Melvill, the first astronaut to pilot a private spacecraft, maneuvered the plane for descent on the same runway it departed nearly two hours earlier.

On landing, Melvill told of a loud bang he heard during the flight. He said it appeared to have been part of the composite airframe buckling near the rocket nozzle. However, the slight indention in SpaceShipOne's exterior did not appear to have jeopardized the craft's performance.

"There was a lot thrust from the plane," said Melvill. "It took me by surprise back there. Everything went really well. I feel great."

The flight marks the pinnacle of Rutan's vision of affordable, safe private space travel. His company Scaled Composites built SpaceShipOne with financial backing from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, for a little more than $20 million. From just a concept in 1995 to reality less than a decade later, Rutan said this was the realization of a long dream..

"I'm so proud of that, it brings tears to my eyes," he said.

The rocket plane made its farthest and fastest flight to date.

A prelude to future flights

Those on hand for the launch -- including officals from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the X Prize foundation and the Guinness Book of Records -- were reverent of the historic moment. Peter Diamandis, co-founder of the X Prize, the $10 million prize for civilian spaceflight, said Rutan's vision would open the door for those with the same dream and designs on the X prize.

"This is a warm-up for the Ansari X Prize, but it's a historic moment for all Americans," he said. "(I've heard), 'If God wanted us to fly into space, he would have given us more money'. Hopefully, the technology demonstrated here today will lead to designs that are cheaper and easier."

Scaled Composites is one of 24 companies from several countries competing for the X Prize, which will go to the first privately funded group to send three people on a suborbital flight 62.5 miles (100.6 kilometers) high and repeat the feat within two weeks using the same vehicle.

The nonprofit X Prize Foundation is sponsoring the contest to promote the development of a low-cost, efficient craft for space tourism in the same way prize competitions stimulated commercial aviation in the early 20th century.

The prize is fully funded through January 1, 2005, according to the foundation's Web site.

With Melvill on board, Monday's flight tested SpaceShipOne's ability to reach the 62.5-mile altitude, the internationally agreed-upon boundary of space.

Spectators witness history

SpaceShipOne landed safely in the Mojave Desert Monday after flying into space, reaching an altitude of 62.5 miles.

The remote desert Mojave airport, home to the world's only civilian test flight center and a licensed spaceport, was also host to an assortment of vehicles that converged on the site from around the country.

Buses, RVs, electric scooters, small ultralights and a menagerie of other vehicles were parked in the sandy soil across from the runway.

A sense of historic anticipation was shared by many of the spectators. Some said that after waiting decades, they were finally witnessing the first steps toward spaceflight for them.

Josh Collins, 25, said he had flown from Maryland to see the attempt.

"Some people thought I was crazy, other people are jealous," he said. "I can't wait to see the launch. It's going to be historic."

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