SpaceShipOne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SpaceShipOne |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Astronaut Mike Melvill after his September 29, 2004 spaceflight. | |
| Role | Spaceplane |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Designer | Burt Rutan |
| First flight | 20 May 2003 |
| Retired | 4 October 2004 |
| Primary user | Mojave Aerospace Ventures |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed into | SpaceShipTwo |
SpaceShipOne is a vehicle built to travel to the lower limits of outer space. It completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and has not flown since winning. It was carried high into the air by a specially designed plane named "White Knight". Both vehicles were built and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures. This was a joint project between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's flying machine company. Allen provided the money to build and fly SpaceShipOne, about US$25 million.
Rutan has said that ideas about the project began as early as 1994. The full-time work towards the 2004 accomplishments took about three years. The vehicle first flew faster than the speed of sound on December 17, 2003. This date was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut. The overall project name was "Tier One". It has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a new, but similar ship's first paying passengers into space within the next few years.
Images for kids
-
White Knight One launch aircraft
-
Flight 16P taxi pre launch
-
Launch of the rockets on SpaceShipOne
-
A crowd watches as SpaceShipOne makes its second flight
-
(L to R) Marion Blakely (FAA), Mike Melvill; Richard Branson, Burt Rutan, Brian Binnie, and Paul Allen reflect on a mission accomplished (October 4, 2004)
-
SpaceShipOne Flight Sept 2004
-
Mike Melvill SpaceShipOne Government Zero 15P
-
SpaceShipOne landing
-
SpaceShipOne now hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
See also
In Spanish: SpaceShipOne para niños
