Posted on 07/09/2004 5:03:49 PM PDT by KevinDavis
During an interview on US news network MSNBC this week, SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill told Deborah Norville that Scaled Composites is planning to shortly give the required 60 days notice that it will fly back to back X Prize qualified flights in an attempt to win the $10 million X Prize.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacedaily.com ...
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Having worked in the space program, I worry about these guys. I have seen a lot of "little things" go wrong and turn into "bigger things".
Did they think of _________? What about _______?
I wish them well and hope they have thought of everything.
I worry about them, too. I am not worried about my investment, that's just for fun. As to how successfully they can compete with Big Gov't, I don't see that happening. They are in a niche, a piece of the flight regieme that NASA hasn't been interested in. They can fly into space every day from now on, they can fly into orbit every day from now on, they can even fly to the moon every day from now on and it won't affect the course of space development and it won't compete with NASA or private space development.
He is thinking "If we build it, they will come." like Orbital Sciences did with their NIRTSATS. (I haven't kept up on them lately.)
Then of course, there is the tourist industry - the ONLY way to make money in space.
Las Vegas will probably make all the money on tourists that there is to be made. He will buy out Rutan and SpaceDev and everybody if necessary.
I a way, it was an underwhelming thing. But that's the cool part about it. Just a few guys in airplanes out in the desert. And they were SO damn high.
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