SpaceShipOne Wins $10M After 2nd Flight

[Audioholics]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/uploads/spaceshipone.jpg"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 95px" alt=[spaceshipone] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/spaceshipone_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Hey, it's not home theater , but it's COOL.&nbsp;The privately built&nbsp;SpaceShipOne took off underneath the belly of a mother plane (White Knight) that carried it about nine miles over the&nbsp;Mojave Desert. From there, SpaceShipOne fired its engine and streaked skyward at about three times the speed of sound on a half-hour flight that took it more than 62 miles high, generally considered the point where space begins. SpaceShipOne -- with test pilot Brian Binnie at the controls -- then glided safely back to Earth, securing the </FONT><A href="http://www.xprize.org/"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>$10 million Ansari&nbsp;X Prize</FONT></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2> and its place in history as the first privately-contracted and owned spaceship to successfully carry 3 people (2 seats were weighted to passenger capacity) and make two successful flights within 2 weeks (using the same ship).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>That's one small step for man...</FONT></P>

 

[Rob Babcock]

Give David Branson a call- he's taking reservations for commercial flights. He plans to blast tourists into orbit in '09 or so. The ticket's something like a hundred grand or so, but hey, it's worth it.

I'm actually hopeful that within my lifetime we'll travel to the moon like you'd travel to Europe now; still a big deal to the average person, but attainable. And downright routine for the well-to-do.

I sure hope I can orbit the Earth someday.

 

[Mudcat]

I sure hope I can orbit the Earth someday.

I've been in orbit, it's nothing special. If you want to orbit the earth cheap, tell your wife you spent 4 grand on a bicycle.