NASA comment on SpaceShip One

From http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ss1/status.html

The following statement was issued by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on
today's private, non-government flight of SpaceShipOne:
"We applaud the remarkable achievement of Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and test
pilot Mike Melvill following the first successful suborbital flight of
SpaceShipOne.

"Not unlike the first U.S. and Soviet space travelers in 1961, and China's
first successful spaceflight this year, these private citizens are pioneers
in their own right. They are doing much to open the door to a new
marketplace offering the experience of weightlessness and suborbital space
flight to the public.

"We congratulate the SpaceShipOne team and wish all those who may follow
safe flights."

I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.


--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge

In article ,
"Alan Erskine" wrote:

The following statement was issued by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on
today's private, non-government flight of SpaceShipOne:
"We applaud the remarkable achievement of Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and test
pilot Mike Melvill following the first successful suborbital flight of
SpaceShipOne.

"Not unlike the first U.S. and Soviet space travelers in 1961, and China's
first successful spaceflight this year, these private citizens are pioneers
in their own right. They are doing much to open the door to a new
marketplace offering the experience of weightlessness and suborbital space
flight to the public.

"We congratulate the SpaceShipOne team and wish all those who may follow
safe flights."

I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.

I doubt he's missed that point, but it's going to be a while before a
commercial venture puts a man (or woman) in orbit. When that happens, I
expect it will merit additional congratulations.

I'm actually quite pleased to see such a warm statement from the NASA
Administrator. NASA has been so vehemently opposed to space tourism in
the past, one might have expected them to be more petulant about this
success. I'm glad to see such expectations are unfounded!

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'

In article ,
Joe Strout wrote:
I'm actually quite pleased to see such a warm statement from the NASA
Administrator. NASA has been so vehemently opposed to space tourism in
the past, one might have expected them to be more petulant about this
success. I'm glad to see such expectations are unfounded!

NASA has often been much friendlier to private spaceflight at the
Administrator level than at the Center-upper-management level (which is
historically where the real decisions about what NASA will and won't do
are often made). The Administrator is a politician and a short-term
appointee; near the top of the Center managements is where you find the
career empire-builders.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

In article , Joe
Strout wrote:

I'm actually quite pleased to see such a warm statement from the NASA
Administrator. NASA has been so vehemently opposed to space tourism in
the past, one might have expected them to be more petulant about this
success. I'm glad to see such expectations are unfounded!

I'm sure I missed alot, but what I saw was them opposed to space
tourism that visited their space station. Put up your own station with
a hotel and I doubt they'd care

--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total ****. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 17:59:02 GMT, "Alan Erskine"
wrote:

I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.

It needs less engergy to go to 100.000 km hight than in LEO (low earth
orbit). What the current flight shows is compareable with the Redstone
Rocket Flights that make small jumps into space - far from going into
orbit.

Raimund

The following statement was issued by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
on
today's private, non-government flight of SpaceShipOne:
...
I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.

The Microsoft-1 has only 5% of orbital energy. In order to send it
around the globe, you would need a booster four times as large as the
White Knight itself. That won't happen.

What's more, spaces shuttles (winged craft) are an inferior choice for
orbiters, when compared to non-resusable capsules (e.g. Soyuz still
rules the waves). I'm afraid Microsoft-1 will be nothing more than the
rocket-powered equivalent of the Great American Flying Circus and it
will not advance the cause of public transportation.

In article ,
"Tamas Feher" wrote:

The following statement was issued by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
on
today's private, non-government flight of SpaceShipOne:
...
I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.

The Microsoft-1 has only 5% of orbital energy.

I don't know what ship you're talking about. SpaceShipOne has no
connection to Microsoft. (Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1983 or so, and
is not to blame for most of Microsoft's evils.)

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'

Alan Erskine wrote:
From http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ss1/status.html

The following statement was issued by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on
today's private, non-government flight of SpaceShipOne:
"We applaud the remarkable achievement of Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and test
pilot Mike Melvill following the first successful suborbital flight of
SpaceShipOne.

"Not unlike the first U.S. and Soviet space travelers in 1961, and China's
first successful spaceflight this year, these private citizens are pioneers
in their own right. They are doing much to open the door to a new
marketplace offering the experience of weightlessness and suborbital space
flight to the public.

"We congratulate the SpaceShipOne team and wish all those who may follow
safe flights."

I think he's missed the point - sub-orbital is only the beginning.

China's flight was in October last year. NASA's website has already
fixed this.