"Mike Dennis" wrote in message
...
I too greatly respect Rutan's achievements, but this guy really has a big
mouth to go along with his unusually large brain. After the flight he was
bragging about how his design proved one could reenter at low speed,
without
all the dangerous heat. Of course, Mr. Rutan is no fan of NASA, but he
needs to respect what they've achieved as well. If the X-Prize
requirements
had been for "orbital" flight, he wouldn't be spouting off about how much
different his ideas are. I wonder what SpaceShipOne would look like after
a
17,600mph reentry from 160 miles up? How about after doing it 25-30
times?

SS1 is a prototype; it wasn't supposed to go into orbit, so it's not
disappointing that it didn't. Moreover no shuttle orbiter is expected to
re-enter more than once without servicing either.