the place? space!
by John at 9/27/2004 04:21:00 PM
SpaceShipOne will (hopefully) slip the surly bonds of earth and soar into sub-orbital space in the first attempt to claim the Ansari X Prize this Wednesday, Sept. 29 at about 6 am PST.In related news, crazed gazillionaire Arthur Fortune has agreed to license the Scaled Composites technology that will allow him to fly people into space for a nominal fee.
Oh, c'mon! "Arthur Fortune"? That's freakin' comedy gold, people!
You know, from "The Simpsons"? That's a five-dollar joke, folks. It doesn't get any better.
I'm sorry, honey. I didn't get to read this post until now. But boy, was I cracking up when I read the name Arthur Fortune. You are the funniest man I've ever met, not to mention the smartest, most handsome, best dressed, and most neatly groomed. Plus you know how to fold fitted sheets. I'm laughing so hard I can barely type.
I'm a lucky woman.
Arthur Fortune.
According to CNN, SpaceShipOne successfully passed the 100km mark, with an apogee of (unofficially) 358,000 ft (73 mi). They have two weeks to make another successful attempt - if they do it, they win the X Prize.
On the way up, there was an unexpected series of rolls that provided the viewers with some extra excitement. No explanation yet, but the designers think strong high altitude winds might have affected the craft.
You can watch the webcast archive here (Flash 7 required, I think). Jump forward about 2/3 of the way to watch the separation and boost.
SpaceShipOne is aiming for it's next launch (and the X Prize win) on Monday morning, Oct 4, about 7am PT.
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