Posted on 09/28/2004 6:36:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis
This is going to be a live thread for tomorrows launch of Spaceship one...
MSNBC saying 352,000 feet--looks like a go for next Monday!
now at microphones
Mike's holding some sort of Green plant like thing. Is that a trophy?
They at the podium what they saying I don't have audio..
Isn't this place the parking lot for old airliners out of use? I thought so but haven't looked into it. There are a couple of graveyards up in Mojave.
Appogee #
1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite most distant from the center of the earth.
2. The point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited.
# The farthest or highest point; the apex: “The golden age of American sail, which began with the fast clipper ships in 1848, reached its apogee in the Gold Rush years” (Los Angeles Times).
The opposite is perigee
1. The point nearest the earth's center in the orbit of the moon or a satellite.
2. The point in any orbit nearest to the body being orbited.
Since the craft was not orbiting, it might have been better termed trajectory apex
Mke: "thanks for coming. Now that was fun... I really nained it"
Do any of you aerospace guys out there know how they come up with the altitude? Is it calculated, is it radar bounced? How does the X-prize Foundation require that the altitude be confimed? 2,000 feet is very close......
When the budget is donated by politicians trying to gain favor, cost is not an issue. Us folks know just what a buck is. $.47 after the IRS gets through with it.
Mike: engine burn 11 secs shorted than planned. "bird flied like a dream"
Mike says he could have gone higher, but he shut the engine down 11 seconds before automatic shut-down, due to the rolling
Mike Says: "Now that was fun, that's why we work at scaled." He shut the engine down 11 seconds before it would have shut down automatically. Propulsion was great. Airplane flys like a dream, a Burt Rutan special.
Burt Rutan says: Flew not balast, personal things. Paul Allen standing in the background smiling. The Green thing was pine seedlings.
at roll: ground requested abort. would've prevented reaching 100 km
It is an orbit. And orbit that intersects the Earth. No, I'm not being sarcastic, either, it's the truth. If they can get up enough ground speed to avoid reaching the ground, then it is a non-intersecting orbit. That's a lot of what this comes down to: Speed, raw velocity to avoid touching the ground.
Mike Meliville kept going even when he was spinning even though Burt said he could shut the engines off. Mike's pretty hardcore I'd say. Burt Predicts a Sunday or Monday flight.
People all cheaing
is your beeber stuned or what?
The IRS is damn near traitorous.
'Looks like a Monday flight, that's where we're headed..' (applause from the crowd)
Paul Allen speaking now. Predictable remarks...
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