Posted on 06/24/2004 4:58:55 PM PDT by KevinDavis
A milestone in the birth of a new kind of space age
IT IS early in the morning in Mojave, and a pink blush has appeared on the horizon. One by one the stars are fading, and to the south of the airport a line of car headlights snakes into the distance. There is, however, no chance of hearing birdsong during what would otherwise be a serene desert dawn, for rock music is pumping out of huge speakers along the runway. Welcome to the age of commercial spaceflight. Prepare your chequebook for take-off.
On June 21st, Mike Melvill fired his rockets, hit three times the speed of sound, and took SpaceShipOne to an altitude of 100,124 metres (about 62 miles) before coming back down to Earth. It was the first privately built craft to fly a human into space, and later that day Mr Melvill became the first private pilot to be awarded astronaut's “wings” by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
Space Ping! This is the Space Ping List! Let me know if you want on or off this list!
He does not understand outer space. He is also against the new NASA mission. He would do no good at all toward the development of outer space and would probably impede it.
I wouldn't be too sure about the current Republican in charge either.
Kerry would be bad for NASA....
Kerry would be for the entire country !!
it appears that we will have to hold our nose, and vote for another Bush !!
Freep-mail.
At least he made a statement, which is more than a lot of politicians have done, but it was not good for space development, not good at all.
He would have China land on Mars than US.. It tells what Kerry really thinks about this nation....
Bush has been pushing for expansion for the space program! Just because the media won't report any of it....
GWB has been pushing for more government and other people's money in space. The post I was replying to concerned private industry.
have some references? I haven't heard about that. The media would rather not report on anything that Bush does. All I heard was talk about going to mars - which to me is a worthy goal.
Actually - any positive goal is worthy - without them, we would all be democrats!
NASA screws up royally again and GWB gives them a budget increase. You should be able to look it up for yourself.
Easy! I was NOT being a smart ass.
WHAT do you suggest on how to do this? Private enterprise can do it (I approve).
If the govt does it, then there CAN BE huge positives - encouragement for the kids to start learning again - get a real education in math & sciences (get rid of the NEA crud). On the other hand, bureaucrats can really screw things up! - "diversity training" - for an astronaut??? Who gives a damned if the astronaut is prejudiced or not? They're pilots and scientist mostly - I just care about their abilities to complete a mission.
What do you want? Nothing? no progress? no goals? no risks? No costs? That is NOT humanity! That is liberalism. BORING!!!
NASA screws up again?? What again? you believed that B.S. about a piece of foam destroying the shuttle?
"The Man Who Sold the Moon" by Robert Heinlein is a good primer on how a "rich" man can achieve this goal. Although he doesn't get to fly to the Moon once his dream is achieved, he is buried beneath the statue that commerorated his efforts!
I had dinner tonight with a program manager from NASA (in FL). She said they were excited about the launch too, because ti might revive the public interest in space.
How about private property rights in outer space?
Al Gore understands outer space. He's spaced out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.