Flying into space

Well now friends and neighbors, it seems that good old Mike Melvill has gone and gotten himself a pair of astronaut wings. He few that wonderfully-designed but poorly-named SpaceShipOne into outer space today, reaching an altitude of 62.5 miles. The first private space flight in history. CNN has a good story up on the suborbital mission, as does MSNBC.

What does this mean? Well, it means Scaled Composites will check out all the data from the flight, then, if all is in order, will make a run for the X-Prize sometime soon by repeating this flight with a crew of three (or their equivalent weight). But they're not going to stop at edge-of-space tourism. Ship designer Burt Rutan said:

"We are heading to orbit sooner than you think," he said. "We do not intend to stay in low-earth orbit for decades. The next 25 years will be a wild ride. ... One that history will note was done for the benefit of everyone."

Hmm. You don't suppose that SpaceShipOne isn't an end unto itself, do you? Sure, that $10 million in X-Prize money will defray a large chunk of the $30 million Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen invested in the project, but not all of it. There's got to be a long-term, big picture goal behind the scenes. It wouldn't suprise me in the least if Scaled Composites have a vehicle capable of reaching LEO within 10 years, with development costs under $250 million. Compare that to the billions NASA is going to squander on feasability studies even before a contractor is selected to develop a successor to the shuttle fleet... folks, it doesn't take a genius to see which way the wind is blowing.

P.S. Yes, the migraine is still with me, but is much-diminished. Thanks for asking.

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