Scaled Composites, a California-based aerospace company, is currently the lead contender for a private enterprise competition, the Ansari X-Prize. The basic premise behind the competition requires that a space-bearing vehicle is launched carrying three occupants to an altitude of at least 100 kilometers. Furthermore, an additional stipulation requires that this hair raising feat must be repeated utilizing the same launch vehicle within the following two weeks from the original launch.
Last week, news of Scaled Composites latest test run of its entrant, SpaceShipOne, took one small step in an otherwise giant leap — it successfully reached an altitude of over 210,000 feet (approximately 41 miles), an accomplishment no other private venture has managed to do (the Air Force X-15 did 40 years ago).
While ship designer Burt Rutan is receiving many accolades for his amazing engineering talents, the death-defying moonstruck pilot, Mike Melvill, has officially received the industry coveted, Tim Swanson Jolly Good Show award which grants the recipient:
- a firm handshake with either hand
- an ice cold draft beer
- David® sunflower seeds
- an 1:32 parachute replica
- and a cheap knock-off sundial made of LEGO’s
Is Mike the next Gragarin, Shepard, Lindbergh, or is he simply in a league of his own?
