Like it says above! She should be about 20-25 minutes from detachment and launch from the White Knight carrier aircraft, and hopefully a flight into history and a 68 mile altitude....

Wow! very cool! Just watched it on the news going threw it's rocket burn. I hope them lots of luck. :)

They did it! Yah! :)

I'm not in the US... what's this about? A link, anyone? :] Fish

Attached Link: SpaceShip One

it's the first private spaceship, built by Bert Rutan and his bunch..if they can duplicate the feat within 2 weeks, they collect $10 Million (could even afford Rhino with that..;)

This is definitely important. NASA has bogged down in bureaucratic inertia and environmentalism, to the point where it no longer cares about what it's doing. This could revive the old frontier spirit, which NASA long since lost.

pakled they have to do it again with three people now to get the $10 Million. Small prize concidering it cost them $20 Million to biuld it. $20 Million for a ship that can get into outerspace is cheap!

Just wait a minute, please :-) They're going mach 3 (3 times speed of sound) for sub-orbital flight - it's mach 25 to get into low earth orbit! What they did is scratch on the door into space - just like the Wright brothers a century ago scratched at the door to todays multi billion dollar air line business. A big WOW for them! Willy

Thanks for link, sirkrite! Yes I recognize this - seen it in the news some time ago, about the $10M prize. Cool! Also cool that the pilot is South African - so at least he and I have something in common :o) :] Fish

it's Mach 25 to escape orbit..;) just depends on what your trajectory needs to be..the point is to light a fire under someone to get the exploration of space underway..;)

Hmmm? I wonder who will land people on Mars first? NASA or the private sector. :)

The X-15 got to 354,200 feet a loooooong time ago, I gather they didn't beat that. Still, is a great thing. I think NASA has way too much of a one-track mind, and surely needs some new ideas. Every solution they come up with cost billions and billions of dollars.

pakled: escape velocity is 11.2 km/sec (around 6.8 mi/sec) that's 40,320 km/h (24,436 mi/hr) orbital velocity is 7.9 km/sec (around 4.8 mi/sec) that's 28,440 km/h (17,236 mi/hr) i.e. orbital velocity is around 25 times the speed of sound (measured at sea-level, that is) Willy PS: escape velocity is always SQRT(2) times orbital velocity (for a circular orbit at the same distance from the center of gravity)