The WhiteKnightTwo flew for the first time today. Just a test hop, but here’s to hoping that Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic can make it work… technologically, economically and regulatorily.
Some news sources:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/40679/113/
http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2008/081224whiteknight.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1327202/whiteknighttwo_soars_over_mojave.html?cat=15
http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=7772
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,470716,00.html
One of the great Jaw Dropping Moments In Scott Lowthers Aerospace Career: a few months after starting work at ATK, some of the higher-up managers had a rah-rah meeting with a bunch of the relatively newly hired. Myself and one other feller were big fans of space tourism, and pushed here and there at ATK to get the company to work in that direction. The topic of space tourim was raised at the meeting… and smacked down by the migh muckymuck with this nugget of wisdom: “I didn’t get into aerospace in order to fly rich people into space.”
Welllllll…… I did. Rich people are the ones with money. And there are a hell of a lot more rich people than astronauts. So long as spaceflight remains the province of government employees and an extremely small number of super-rich, spaceflight will remain a novelty… and, from the publics point of view, a boring novelty. Not worthy of further development. Which will either leave us stranded on this rock… or will leave the universe open to conquest by the Chinese and Indians, with Western Civ left dead as Babylon.
4 Responses to “First operational space tourism craft makes first flight”
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Here here!
Bravo!!! Sure reminds me that anything is possible and also reminds me to never get up.
Thanks
Don
Don:
Being nit-picky I know, but with some folks I really DO need to clarify…
(I work for the government after all :o)
This reminds you to never GET UP???
That was supposed to be “Give up” correct?
Randy…
Happy new year folks
> This reminds you to never GET UP???
> That was supposed to be “Give up” correct?
Can’t speak for Don (well, OK, I can, but who knows if it’ll be accurate), but “never get up” sure seems like a Government Policy Position. Attend:
Ever since Apollo 13, “Failure is not an option” seems to have been NASA’s motto and basic operating principle. Well, ok. So, what’s the best way to *assure* that failure doesn’t occur? It’s not to try your hardest, because no matter how hard or how smart you work, if you push the boundaries, you will occasionally fail. But… what if you don’t even try? Then… you don’t succeed, but you also don’t fail. Consequently, if failure truly is not an option, then don’t even try. And… Bingo! We have an understanding of why NASA has not sent a man past LEO since most of the people who read this blog were born (I’m guessing).