Since I was shooting the event on a credential for Wired News (Thanks Dan!), I took the opportunity to add pictures to my little blogging script. Here are some of my images from the first launch:
Aviation pioneer Burt Rutan made history yesterday, winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize when his SpaceShipOne experimental rocket plane reached an altitude of 368,000 feet under the control of Brian Binnie. I was at the first prize flight last Wednesday down at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center. Since the first successful attempt by the SpaceShipOne team to reach the arbitrary boundary of space, there has been a buzz that this will usher in a new era of civilian space travel, equivalent to Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight signaling the beginning of the aviation revolution. I'm having a hard time figuring out what new era they're talking about. It may be an overly simplistic view, but where exactly is space travel going to take us? Aviation as a disruptor made sense because it facilitated international business and travel (to existing destinations). It allowed connections and virtualization that wasn't possible when your only opportunity to cross oceans was 2 weeks by ship. Sub-orbital (and even orbital) space travel doesn't seem to have applications beyond tourism itself. Even though Richard Branson of the Virgin Group has announced that he'll be licensing Rutan's technology and offering flights at $200k a pop, I'm not sure there is much potential beyond entertainment. And even then, the price will have to come down to 1% of what it is now for me to be capable of taking a flight. Despite my skepticism, I'll keep watching this as my childhood science fiction dreams become reality.
Since I was shooting the event on a credential for Wired News (Thanks Dan!), I took the opportunity to add pictures to my little blogging script. Here are some of my images from the first launch: