October 04, 2004
SpaceShipOne Live Notes
I'll be adding to this post over the next few hours, with my notes on the flight.
9:50 ET -- The White Knight with SS1 underneath just took off. It will now be about 45-60 mins until they reach the height to release SS1.
10:08 -- Halfway to the air-launch altitude.
10:12 -- It is much more satisfying to have uninterrupted coverage of the flight. They probably had this Science Channel stream last week, but I missed it.
One minor note. Who is this woman anchoring the coverage? She hasn't said anything outrageous (yet?), but is seems clear that she's not an aviation person. I'm not sure why you wouldn't get an aviation person, or at least a licensed GA pilot, to anchor this kind of thing.
10:23 -- Science Channel is reporting that they are about 15 minutes from release.
10:34 -- Working hard to climb the final few thousand feet to the release altitude. It could be any moment now.
10:43 -- CNN is now saying 5 more minutes.
10:49 -- Release!
10:52 -- Feathering has begun. "Unofficially in space now." 350K
10:55 -- The Science Channel just went to a commercial in the middle of re-entry!!! Watching CNN now.
11:04 -- CNN is reporting that SS1 reached 368,000 feet. That would not only win the X-Prize, but it breaks the old record for the highest ever flown by the X-15 crafts.
11:13 -- Touchdown.
11:30 -- Brian Binnie preparing to talk to the crowd.
11:34 -- Lots of people on the stage. Diamandis, Allen, Burt, Binnie, Branson (!), Blakey, the Ansaris. But where's Mike Melvill?
11:40 -- Ah, there's Mike.
Posted by jackhodgson at October 4, 2004 09:53 AM