SpaceShipOne Wins $10 Million Ansari X Prize

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Brooker

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It's always been a dream of mine to go to space. SpaceShipOne has just brought all of us one step closer to being able to do just that.

MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA -- Human flight took a significant step forward today as the privately built SpaceShipOne flew into suborbital space for the second time in five days, securing the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

With pilot Brian Binnie at the controls, SpaceShipOne rocketed to a winning height of 367,442 feet (112 kilometers), setting a new altitude record for the craft and proving that private industry can build a viable vehicle for sending paying passengers to space.
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Binnie was the 434th human to have left our planet to go into space, Searfoss noted.
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Complete story...
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize2_success_041004.html
 
Hmm, I don't know that I would trust this thing yet, I mean yeah its a successful thing and what not, but I'd wait a little before I would buy a tiket, which I would need about lots of money that I dont have, so I dont see it happening soon. And also, spaceship one doesnt reallly go into space, barely just the edge, It doesn't go very beyond earth's atmosphere if it leaves it at all. Anyhow, this is a good firs step. Maybe in the next 20/30 years who knows they will develop a much better/bigger/stronger aircraft that will really allow us go into space safely and in a reasonable price.
 
It may be just barely the edge, but that's just nitpicking to me. The point here is that the craft gets up to where air resistance virtually becomes a non-factor, and it allows for extreme supersonic speeds. Going from New York to Tokyo in 3 hrs. sounds great to me!

By the way, I remember hearing about this sort of thing on the Discovery Channel a few years ago. It seems that some people think that the Reagan administration had a project of this nature in the budget, called the "Aurora Project."
 
Glenn said:
By the way, I remember hearing about this sort of thing on the Discovery Channel a few years ago. It seems that some people think that the Reagan administration had a project of this nature in the budget, called the "Aurora Project."
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AFAIK, several nations had plans for sub-orbital jets, but all didn't get realized for being too expensive. That's where I see the main advance now: the contestants for the X-Prize proved that it doesn't have to be multi-billion dollar enterprise.

Sadly I probably won't live to see space travel become a common occurrence (& experience it myself). I suppose, during my life time it will only be an opportunity for the rich.
 
Duo said:
Hmm, I don't know that I would trust this thing yet, I mean yeah its a successful thing and what not, but I'd wait a little before I would buy a tiket, which I would need about lots of money that I dont have, so I dont see it happening soon. And also, spaceship one doesnt reallly go into space, barely just the edge, It doesn't go very beyond earth's atmosphere if it leaves it at all. Anyhow, this is a good firs step. Maybe in the next 20/30 years who knows they will develop a much better/bigger/stronger aircraft that will really allow us go into space safely and in a reasonable price.
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Yeah, but the Wright Brothers first flight flew about twenty feet into the air and flew for less than a minute I think. Just because you couldn't buy a first class ticket to Tokyo the next week doesn't mean that it wasn't an incredibly important event and a sign of things to come in the future. I think the situation with SpaceShipOne is exactly the same.
 
Ah, but this is the age of impatience, Booker.
 
I am afraid that I can't afford such a ride....would be fantastic though! :) Maybe I can go when I become an old lady with blue hair, fake teeth and grandchildren...?? :D By that time, it is maybe cheaper for us to get a ticket, and the technology has improved...and I have had time to save up and collect my huge pension.... :D :D
 
Brooker said:
Your children might be able to go.
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HAHA..:D Yeah!! And they can come down to earth and tell me about the experience, as I'd be an old lady by then! :D
 
Well bossel, you could always go the route of cryogenic freezing and hope you survive the initial freezing. Then you just wait until someone figures out how to thaw a frozen person without kill them. By that time, space travel shouldn't be too much trouble. Besides, think of the interest your money would have accumulated in the mean time.

Keep in mind though, that I'm not recommending that course of action.
 
Melkor said:
Well bossel, you could always go the route of cryogenic freezing and hope you survive the initial freezing. Then you just wait until someone figures out how to thaw a frozen person without kill them. By that time, space travel shouldn't be too much trouble. Besides, think of the interest your money would have accumulated in the mean time.
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Nice idea, but after I paid for the freezing I would have to be very afraid of the accumulated interest. For it would be on a loan, & I would have to pay several fortunes. :(
 
Bossel, you just pay now for enough life insurance to cover freezing your head. When you die, your beneficiary payout will be the cryo firm. When you wake up you get the extra bonus of a new body!

You may think I'm joking, but I'm not. Well, maybe a bit.
 
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