June 24, 2004
Send Congratulations to Burt Rutan!
On June 21, 2004 the first privately financed piloted space vehicle, SpaceShipOne, broke through the atmosphere and touched the edge of space. Add your name and email address (and optional comments) here by clicking on the "Comments()" link and filling in the form at the bottom of the page, or scroll to the bottom of this page. On July 22nd, NSS Director George Whitesides personally presented Burt Rutan with a big congratulations card with the first four pages of signatures - we've re-opened this page to allow even more of the space community to share their enthusiasm!
Posted by apsmith at June 24, 2004 12:04 PM
Comments
I was fortunate enough to be able to witness the historic test flight of SpaceShipOne in person on June 21st. It was an amazing experience! I wish everyone at Scaled Composites the best of luck in winning the X-Prize!
Posted by: Randall Severy at June 24, 2004 04:52 PM
THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU... SPACESHIPONE. I'm ready to go home.
Posted by: DANIEL WESLEY GOLDSMITH at June 24, 2004 08:16 PM
Congratulations to Burt Rutan and the Scaled Composites crew, including their partners, such as Jim Benson's SpaceDev team and Mojave Spaceport operator Stu Witt for the first successful suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne. A special "tip of the visor" to newly-minted civilian astronaut Mike Melvill, whose humanity and emotion shone throughout (i.e., wearing his wife's horseshoe pin as a good luck charm prior to each flight). Continued success to the Tier One program and all future endeavours.
Posted by: Jim Spellman at June 24, 2004 10:04 PM
Congratulations - and thankyou! This is just the beginning, of a whole new era for space!
Posted by: Arthur Smith at June 25, 2004 07:54 AM
Congrads!!
Posted by: Jason Lloyd at June 25, 2004 01:07 PM
Got to watch the whole thing right here at Kennedy Space Center and was spellbound the entire time. Congratulations to Burt Rutan, Mike Melvill and everyone who worked on the project! You've made millions of people's dreams a reality. And NASA could sure use some competition again...
Posted by: Ashley Pete at June 25, 2004 02:31 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Ray Dittmeier at June 25, 2004 02:46 PM
You've helped usher in a new era of affordable spaceflight- congratulations!
Posted by: Ryan Garwood at June 26, 2004 12:58 AM
Watching that beautiful ship arc straight up was something I will never forget. THIS is the future that we've dreamed about, and it is brought to us by the heroes of today. THANK YOU Burt, Paul, Mike, and everyone in all the companies and organizations that made it possible!
Posted by: George Whitesides at June 26, 2004 03:18 AM
You are testement to the belief that if you can visualize your dreams you can make them come true!
Thanks for making the dream of citizen space flight begin to be a reality for all of us!
Posted by: Glenn Johnson at June 26, 2004 09:19 AM
THANK YOU!!! For a job well done. What was but a dream is now the beginning of a new reality. Good luck on the next step to winning the X-Prize. Then, on to the stars and Warp Speed.
Posted by: John R Tenopir at June 26, 2004 10:29 AM
I am looking forward to your orbiter
Posted by: James McEnanly at June 26, 2004 10:34 AM
Congradulations! Everyone here at Edwards, who could, watched. Good luck with the next step towards the prize.
Posted by: John Cochran at June 26, 2004 12:09 PM
Congrats!
Posted by: Salman Masoumi at June 26, 2004 01:13 PM
Congratulations, Mr. Rutan, from the Liftport team.
Brian Dunbar
Liftport
Posted by: Brian Dunbar at June 26, 2004 03:29 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Guillem Adret at June 26, 2004 05:07 PM
I was lucky enough to see the flight in person. Absolutely gorgeous. After years of disillusionment and disgust with government-dominated space travel, Dennis Tito's trip let me dream again about one day going to space. Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites make me believe it.
Posted by: Kirsten Tynan at June 26, 2004 05:32 PM
I wish I had been there to see your spaceflight, but you were in my thoughts! May your future endeavors continue to build on your success so far. Congratulations!
Posted by: Carrie Williams at June 26, 2004 08:46 PM
Congratulations to SpaceShipOne-team from Sweden.
You give me hope!
Posted by: Ted Borve at June 27, 2004 03:07 AM
Congratulations on the great job you did! Here's hoping you repeat your success many times over.
Posted by: Daniel Caslaw at June 27, 2004 11:39 AM
Followed launch - between TV ads :-(
Congratulations and the best on your next flights.
Thanks for opening another path to Space.
LRK
Posted by: LARRY KELLOGG at June 27, 2004 01:40 PM
Dear Mr. Rutan:
I was overwhelmed by the fact that a $20 Million project could make a sub-orbital flight, including a view of the curve of the Earth, and the experience of weightlessness. A logical next step, would be creation of an airline company that promises suborbital flights from New York to Tokyo. Through economies of scale, the ticket price could be lowered to $1000. Belong that low cost full orbital flight, and low cost trips to the Moon, should be considered.
Posted by: J. David Baxter at June 27, 2004 02:16 PM
Pragmatic use of limited resources, lots of perspiration by a wonderful engineering team, combined with inspiration by a brilliant designer and a brave and smart test pilot did much to rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit in space exploration. The image of Mike Melvill on top of SpaceshipOne after his successful suborbital flight is a long overdue inspiration to us all. Thank you!
Posted by: Courtney Stadd at June 27, 2004 02:17 PM
With efforts like this many dreams will come true.
Congradulations Burt. Always ever onward.
Posted by: Montie Adkins at June 27, 2004 02:57 PM
Here's to you, SpaceShipOne team!
The Spirit of the XPrize! A new Lindbergh for our time!
The Spirit of Saint Louis is alive.
Visionary thinking. A new world in the making.
Soon we will be living in the sky.
From New York to Paris, now headed for Earth Orbit.
We're following the lead of old Orteig.
XPrize contenders, they will be remembered
For kicking off a modern human race.
Posted by: Elaine Walker at June 27, 2004 03:13 PM
Burt
once again your team has amazed and delighted the aerospace community and the world at large. I feel like the space age has finally arrived!
Congratulations
Posted by: Richard Godwin at June 27, 2004 03:23 PM
Many big thanks to Burt and all the crew that made this happen. Step by step, we bring spaceflight "down to Earth".
For cheap access to space, build more rockets!
Ray
Posted by: Ray Calkins at June 27, 2004 05:09 PM
Congratulations! I can't wait to go into space myself.
Posted by: Gero Schmidt at June 27, 2004 05:40 PM
Go Burt Go!
Posted by: Mark M. Hopkins at June 27, 2004 05:46 PM
Burt, you've started something big.
Thanks mate and congratulations.
Posted by: Martin J Smith at June 27, 2004 05:48 PM
Congratulations.
Posted by: Graham Cowan at June 27, 2004 06:06 PM
As I wait for the Olympic Games to begin this year, I tune into CNN and see a high jump like no other. Without a penny of government money, and with a total program cost of about what Denis Tito had to pay to the Russians, the era of commercial space travel has begun. Congradulations!
Posted by: Sean at June 27, 2004 07:36 PM
Congratulations Burt, Great Job, I'm looking forward to much more.
Posted by: Greg Broomfield at June 27, 2004 07:52 PM
I have been following Burt Rutan since the day of Voyager and love his designs. It is awesome following his successes and look forward to seeing the future of space flight being opened up by Burt. Way to go Burt, Mike Melvill, and Paul Allen!
Posted by: Joseph DeAlmeida at June 27, 2004 08:37 PM
Congratulations Burt and to everyone who's worked on the project! Thanks for keeping the dream alive. Hopefully, your success will re-ignite intrest in space!
Posted by: Rich Seiler at June 27, 2004 09:25 PM
Congratulations on the successful flight! You have proven that the future of manned spaceflight does not have to be solely in the hands of the government and that there will be plenty of opportunity to innovate for future aerospace engineers like myself.
Posted by: Chris Ferenzi at June 28, 2004 12:56 AM
Congratulations to Burt and his SpaceShipOne team on opening the newest chapter of space travel.
Posted by: Lalit Aryatilake at June 28, 2004 01:56 PM
Mr. Rutan--I've been following your career since you revolutionized small-plane design and knew that when you entered the X-Prize competition that you were the one to beat, and you're proving it to be so. Many heartfelt thanks and congrats-- a future town on Mars will be named after you. Gratefully, jim
Posted by: jim weber at June 28, 2004 04:27 PM
Congratulations, Mr. Rutan.
I hope to take a ride on something like SS1 some day, though a trip to orbit would be even better.
Good luck on the X-Prize and whatever you build afterward.
Posted by: Danush Novakovski at June 28, 2004 06:27 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Tony Stray at June 28, 2004 11:45 PM
Mr. Rutan,
You have been an inspiration to all of us at OneGlobalCommunity.org, and to the entire world. Your flights will give confidence to all of us to go on to heights greater than most of us might imagine. We thank you for this gift. We also thank all the trustees and sponsors of the x-prize for offering your prize that puts a bit of kick into everyone’s dream, to get up and push themselves to go as high as possible. We also have this dream embedded in our minds and hearts. We would enjoy talking with any members of your group or of the x-prize trustees or financiers, to explore how we can further help each other in supporting the privatization of space efforts. We believe that some of our resources could help this movement. For those who would like to contact us, we welcome your communications. Thanks also to Paul Allen for being a solid rock behind this great momentous effort.
Respectfully,
Loren and Leslie Hardy.
ambloren@juno.com
celestialcolony@juno.com
Posted by: Amb. Loren Hardy at June 28, 2004 11:58 PM
Congratulations from Montana on your achievement. Great job!
Posted by: Bill Bowden at June 29, 2004 01:22 AM
I was fortunate enough to broadcast three plus hours nonstop for the Space Ship One flight on The Space Show via an internet stream. I received hundreds of emails from people around the world listening to program for all three plus hours! Space Ship One inspired people everywhere. I had people from Greece crying out of joy through their emails to me, lots from Australia chiming in about how wonderful the flight was. Dozens of mirror sites for the broadcast came to life in the UK, Holland, Germany, the US, and Canada to handle the overloaded bandwidth. The flight was great, but seeing how people all over the world came together in this forum for this event to go to space, well, as far as I am concerned, what better reason for doing what we do. And for Burt and all the crew at Space Ship One, travel with the wind and God be with you. You have made our world smaller and certainly more peaceful. Keep it up. Keep it up.
David Livingston, Host
The Space Show
www.thespaceshow.com
Posted by: David Livingston at June 29, 2004 02:44 AM
Thanks for leading the vision of commercial space. Your success has impacted the future in ways we can only dream of.
Great work!
Posted by: Joe Redfield at June 29, 2004 09:54 AM
Thank you for not only keeping the dream alive but also for continuing the fulfillment of it. You have achieved a major milestone in providing access to space for everyone and the possibilities that go along with it.
Posted by: Carol Luckhardt Redfield at June 29, 2004 11:06 AM
Congratulations from Northern Italy. Your pioneering efforts will pay huge dividends... for all of mankind. Thank you all for allowing me to go along on that ride (albeit in spirit only.) Best of luck to the entire SpaceShipOne family.
PS, If you need human ballast on any upcoming flights, just give a call.
Posted by: Bobby Brent Caldwell at June 29, 2004 12:45 PM
Fantastic!! It's the dawn of a new era. Best wishes for the X-Prize and beyond!
Posted by: Adam Bruckner at June 29, 2004 02:06 PM
OUTSTANDING WORK GENTLEMEN!~
I am looking forward to you accomplishing the X-Prize goal and putting America "back" into the lead as the space faring country for all of us.
Thank you again your ingenuity, determination and courage.
Michael S. Carter
Posted by: Michael S. Carter at June 29, 2004 02:52 PM
Well down Burt, Mike, Paul, and all of the people behind Scaled Composites.
The only way is up!
Posted by: Jason Horton at June 29, 2004 11:44 PM
I was so lucky to be there. SS1 looks more like Flash Gordon's ship than NASA's. Thank you, Burt, for all of your wonderful aerospace goodies! And thanks to all who helped make them all possible.
Posted by: Robert E. Burleson at June 30, 2004 04:15 AM
Congratulations to the entire team! The prize beckons!
Posted by: Tim Cadell at June 30, 2004 12:12 PM
I was able to be at Mohave on June 21st and I just have top say that I would not have missed it for the world. I know multiple people that say they were able to watch it on the news and the internet but I have to say that nothing could compare to actually being there. Great Job Guys
Posted by: Matthew Schroeder at June 30, 2004 02:28 PM
I heard Burt Rutan declare his intention to do this at the EAA Oshkosh fly-in in 1994. I never doubted he'd do it. Thank you, Burt and Mike, for opening the door to space for all of us.
Long live the spirit of Free Enterprise!
Posted by: Cliff McMurray at June 30, 2004 03:49 PM
Thank you for your successful test of Space Ship One. This event will ever be a milestone in the development of a spacefaring civilization.
May your next step be even more successful than the last.
Ad Astra!
Posted by: Morris H. Middleton at June 30, 2004 04:04 PM
Well done, a thousand times over,and for those of us that aren't able to be there, Thank you.May god bless you that you can keep on keeping on. My prayers go out to all of you that are makeing this happen. Sincerely, John W. Taylor e-mail cvmaherbman@netzero.com
Posted by: John W.Taylor at July 1, 2004 02:26 AM
Burt Rutan’s aerospace designs are the love of all. The dream, the spirit, the courage preceding his team’s awesome success on SpaceShipOne is a pride not just for the leading space faring country, but for all mankind. Congratulations!
G.L.Narasimham
ex Advisor,
Indian Space Research organisation
Posted by: G.L.Narasimham at July 1, 2004 07:42 AM
I've forty years of liftoff and trajectory analysis. I knew you could do it. Magnificent.
Posted by: V A Dauro at July 1, 2004 11:14 AM
Private enterprise wins the day. I knew it would happen because the SF books I've been reading for years tell me so. But all of you made the best of fiction into reality. Congratulations. -- Pat Hufford, fantasy writer & former ghostwriter for the NSI (aka NSS).
Posted by: Pat Hufford at July 2, 2004 10:42 AM
SPaceshipOne crew, welcome home. In a time of unrest thank you for doing something that would make God smile.
Posted by: Jose Aguirre at July 2, 2004 03:24 PM
i and my family say perfect it is what we need
when we need it the most.
continued success .
we are their in spirt.
god speed rutan.
looking foward to your next flight.
Posted by: michael a.massetti at July 2, 2004 07:57 PM
Congratulations to you all at Scaled Composites. and Thanks to Paul Allen. What a great boost for us all!
Posted by: Ron Peterson at July 2, 2004 07:58 PM
Well done folks. Wish I could've seen it, still saving my pennies for MY flight!
Tom
Posted by: Dr. Tom Cassity at July 2, 2004 08:02 PM
Burt, Mike, Paul and all at Scaled Composites:
Congratulations for a job well done. It may have been a small step toward the larger goal, but it was a HUGE success. It brought tears to these old eyes to see a dream I've carred forward from the forties realized at last.
Now the X-Prize and all that lies beyond.
J.
Posted by: J. Richard Jacobs at July 2, 2004 08:15 PM
Thank you for demonstrating that it does not take a government agency to get us there. I hope this will shake up a bureaucracy and a very complacent industry.
Posted by: Thor Christensen at July 2, 2004 08:22 PM
Congratulations. We are very proud of your accomplishments here in Tennessee.
Thanks,
Patricia & David
Posted by: Patricia Keever at July 2, 2004 08:39 PM
Gotta LOVE you guys!!! Well done!!!
Burt, Mike, and Paul, a well deserved THANK YOU and good luck on your follow on flights!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
George F. Erickson
Los Alamos, NM
Posted by: George F. Erickson at July 2, 2004 09:04 PM
Burt,
I've been waiting a long time for a real Mr. Harriman [character created by Robert Heinlein] to lead the business community into space. At long last my hopes have been answered. Sign me up, I'm ready to GO!!
Many heartfelt thanks from someone who's bags have been packed and waiting for too long!!
Posted by: Robin at July 2, 2004 09:06 PM
Great job. You gave all of us who have ever wished to travel into space a little more hope that it will happen. Maybe sooner than we thought. Thanks again.
Posted by: Thomas Loizides at July 2, 2004 09:21 PM
Congratulations Burt, Mike and the whole crew. Ever since you entered the contest I have been telling ever one who would listen, you would win the X-Prize. You are well on the way now. Thanks for a good ride and opening space to all of us. Your choice of Mike to pilot SpaceShip
One was a stroke of genius. I never met anyone at Scaled Composites who wasn't A-One.
I'm an Ezy builder and a big fan of yours.
Gene Sherwood
Posted by: Gene Sherwood at July 2, 2004 09:29 PM
I'd like to add my congratulations to the
whole team for making Space Ship One a big
success. As I tell my 8th grade science
students, theirs is the generation which will
really see space travelers return to the Moon
and venture farther beyond. Your efforts have brought that dream closer for all.
Posted by: Charles Escoffery at July 2, 2004 09:47 PM
Way to go, happy for you Congratulations!!!!
Posted by: Michael Kennedy at July 2, 2004 09:59 PM
Glad you did it. Thanks to both you and your brother for answering my silly questions about cryogenic composites and coaxial scramjet annular aerospike aerodynamics at Oshkosh '02. Incremental and good now is better than perfect in the by-and-by. Many happy flights!
Posted by: Bernie Swenson at July 2, 2004 10:12 PM
Congratulations on your great success!
Posted by: Ed Daniels at July 2, 2004 10:20 PM
Very Well done and a "Hey Now" If you need a passenger I'm available.
Posted by: Thomas Mairs at July 2, 2004 10:24 PM
Gentlemen, my congratulations on a gleaming accomplishment. Your courage and imagination are sure to leave a lasting impression and find a much deserved place in the annals of space travel.
Posted by: Charles Albano at July 2, 2004 10:49 PM
This IS the future, the future is NOW! You did this and must be very proud. I got up very early many years ago th watch the Mercury, Then Gemini, then Appolo lift offs. Wish I still had the old real to real recordings of the lift offs. But we now move forward. Good luck to you, and congrats!
Mark Ward
Posted by: Mark Ward at July 2, 2004 11:02 PM
Way to go Burt! You have made history.
Posted by: William J. Inman at July 2, 2004 11:07 PM
Congratulations to a fine team. Your accomplishment of reaching space with a $20 million dollar effort was phenominal. Keep up the good work and do it again soon.
Posted by: Ken Randle at July 2, 2004 11:45 PM
Thank you so much for giving this country a good boost, and a swift "kick in the pants!"
I was beginning to think that only Russia, China and eventually Japan were the only spacefaring nations left.
The commercial use of space is truly what will get humanity out of it's cradle. You took one small step towards that goal. Just Beautiful!!!
Thanks,
Michael Kammer
Posted by: Michael Kammer at July 3, 2004 12:03 AM
Burt, Paul, Mike and Scaled Composites Crew
Like you, I grew up during the space race, with the promise that we would soon all follow. I am so thankful that you have held the dream and are now ready to deliver the promise.
Thank you so very much,
Kennith G. Armour
Posted by: Kennith G. Armour at July 3, 2004 12:16 AM
Thanks for being such an inspiration for every student and for an old F4U Corsair pilot who tried to keep his airplane in a zero-g trajectory whenever there was time.
Thanks also for helping to keep MAN in the race.
Posted by: Lyon McCandless at July 3, 2004 12:42 AM
Congratulations on what has to be the most
beautiful spacecraft to fly into space. Good
luck on winning the X-Prize soon!
Posted by: Charles Fassel at July 3, 2004 12:46 AM
Step by tiny step, we have to take them all, can't skip any. That's how we'll get there.
Posted by: Ned Dodds at July 3, 2004 01:10 AM
Congratulations to you and your team for the successful launch of Space Ship One, and your many other accomplishments over the past years. I am looking forward to your next successful launch. You are truly an inspiration to the many visionaries who hopefully will also achieve another (small) step toward the planets and stars.
Posted by: Ray Bieak at July 3, 2004 02:21 AM
Dear Mr. Rutan: Congratulations on your suborbital success over the Mojave! It's as important as Kitty Hawk, as it opens up private spaceflight. Mike Melvill proved to be an excellent astronaut, dealing with an unexpected booming sound and a flight control problem. I hope they've been identified and fixed and that you'll be able to follow your fast-track schedule. Cheers!
Posted by: Judy Mason at July 3, 2004 02:48 AM
Congratulations, and thank you for your visionary pursuit of humanities destiny among the starts!
Posted by: Alain at July 3, 2004 06:09 AM
I was watching the tv live from MNBC ,what a feat
you made a thresthold of space program how u feel in space. I wonder if deaf person as a passger flow first time in history of deaf person in space.
Posted by: David Holderread at July 3, 2004 07:53 AM
That's one small step for (a) company and one giant leap for capitalism.
I wish you continued success on the vastly more difficult feat of achieving orbit.
Dave Mitsky
Posted by: Dave Mitsky at July 3, 2004 08:05 AM
Thank you for keeping the dream alive. Since 1957, when I was ten years old, I've dreamed about spaceflight and space exploration. Maybe now your breakthrough flight will begin to move space travel out of the realm of government and politics. I only wish I could have been there to see this historic event.
Congratulations and good luck in the future.
Posted by: J. Steven Cochrane at July 3, 2004 08:18 AM
Thank you so much for your investment of time, money, innovation and courage. What you have already done is impressive and I hope other, greater things are still to come.
Posted by: Mark Abrams at July 3, 2004 09:35 AM
Congrats in your amazing quest and thank you for pioneering the inspiration for the kids all over the world who will undoubtely follow your steps onto the stars.
Posted by: Marco Villalobos at July 3, 2004 09:37 AM
Congratulations to Mr. Rutan, et al. I've been following space activities since before the Mercury program, watching liftoffs with my parents back in the '60's. Later, I watched manned flight fizzle after Apollo 17 - definitely a sad time, watching our country turn its back on the high frontier. Godspeed to your own pioneering efforts in manned space flight. I'm hoping it's a major rebirth.
Bob
Posted by: Robert Novickas at July 3, 2004 09:38 AM
burt-and your great crew-congrats,it's sort of like having a baby.In this case it will grow bigger and bigger.Give melvill the week off.Regards!
Posted by: harry clagett at July 3, 2004 12:11 PM
Congratulations from Texas!
Posted by: Jim Cashin at July 3, 2004 01:10 PM
Once again Burt Rutan, you have gone where many others have only dared dream. And as usual, you've done so with a design sense that should make other spacecraft designers sit up and tke notice. This country and the world is indeed lucky to have a visionary who can both dream and deliver the goods. Your efforts point the way toward a future where humankind settles the solar system. And beyond. Congratulations and here's looking forward to your next step toward the heavens.
Posted by: Phil Lanier at July 3, 2004 01:32 PM
Congratulations to you and your team on an outstanding achievement! My editors at Scholastic were impressed enough with your accomplishments (and how "cute" SpaceShipOne is!) to decide to include SpaceShipOne's photo in the popular Space University series' final book. Tens of thousands of children and their parents will see that photo and know that their hope to fly into space is not just a dream any more. Thank you for opening the door to the future.
Marianne Dyson
Children's Author
NSS Director
Posted by: Marianne Dyson at July 3, 2004 01:57 PM
Kick Ass!!!! You are in a way just like Zephram Cochran!! Keep going!! I would like to go into space someday before I die. People like you who have the guts and dream to do it, will make that possible! Thanks and congrats!!!
Posted by: Paul Visminas at July 3, 2004 02:33 PM
As one who was unable to be at your Frontier-Opening first flight, but who was lucky enough to have been in NASA's shuttle program (engineer, OMS engines for Endeavor), I send my Most Heart-felt CONGRATULATIONS ! Your ground-breaking, innovative designs will rock existing governmental space-faring organizations, and will one let us all taste space ! Thanks again.
Posted by: Will Crowther at July 3, 2004 03:24 PM
Congratulations to you Burt and to the entire team at Scaled Composites. Your work brings us one step closer to that day when humankind becomes a spacefaring species.
Posted by: Jim Plaxco at July 3, 2004 04:03 PM
From flight member #302 of the now defunct Civilian Astronauts Corps, thanks so much for keeping the dream alive!
Posted by: Richard Lieb at July 3, 2004 04:18 PM
Congratulations! This is a great day for mankind and its neverending quest for exploration. Like the traders, trappers, and other businessmen who settled the west before the government funded explorers did, you're making our steps into space ones others can follow. Thank you.
Posted by: Jack Rumple at July 3, 2004 05:54 PM
What took the Redstone and Mercury millions and millions of dollars and thousands and thousands of pounds of fuel and oxydizer to make a hop into space and then drop into water on a parachute, you did with a winged glider returning to an airport. Congratulations to your success!
Rolf Dutzmann
Posted by: Rolf Dutzmann at July 3, 2004 08:35 PM
Congratulations SpaceShipOne Team! You guys are amazing! Whether you win the X-prize at this point is irrelavent. You have opened a door that hopefully will only be busted open wider! May this just be the beginning of private ventures into the final frontier.
Posted by: Steven D. Stein at July 3, 2004 09:31 PM
Congratulations to the Scaled Composits team! From those of us who have been working so hard for so long to see the dream of spaceflight become a reality, the best of luck to you!
Ad astra,
Joe Huwaldt
Posted by: Joseph A. Huwaldt at July 3, 2004 10:02 PM
Great going! It's about time that private citizen's were allowed to join the race for space. If we make it a government only effort, we will be delayed by decades from making space travel an everyday thing. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Eugene Bruder at July 4, 2004 03:13 PM
Thank you so much for the excitement and inspiration! May your flight lead more of us off this planet to higher goals.
Posted by: Carole Jones at July 4, 2004 04:40 PM
You give young people something to dream about. You inspire learning and innovation and hard work. So many people admire and support your efforts... please keep going.
Posted by: Randy Sahae at July 4, 2004 07:55 PM
Thanks for taking the first step demonstrating that individuals, not only governments, can get into space. Frontiers are only truly conquered when individuals go there and find out how to make it profitable doing so.
Posted by: Stephen Powell at July 4, 2004 08:02 PM
"SpaceShipOne, GovernmentZero!" Thank you, you crazy free-market capitalists, for blowing NASA's "faster, cheaper, better" to smithereens! Thank God for people like Rutan, Allen, & Melvill. You're our shining hope for getting us dreamers off the planet.
Posted by: Fran Van Cleave at July 4, 2004 08:24 PM
What a kick seeing Mike Melvill holding that sign, "SpaceShipOne, GovernmentZero," brought to Mojave by our friends in the Western Libertarian Alliance. It perfectly expresses the second conquest you guys made -- not just the technological one, as great as that was, but the one over the idea that space travel and exploration is forever the domain of governments. Private enterprise rules!
Posted by: Kent Van Cleave at July 4, 2004 08:27 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Bill Abrahams at July 5, 2004 03:42 AM
An astonishing achievement and a sterling example of what can be achieved despite a myopic political structure that ignores the long-term good of its citizens ... and the world ... in favor of entrenching its own power and maintaining a dysfunctional status quo. Sincerest congratulations!
Posted by: Doug Dauffenbach at July 5, 2004 11:07 AM
Congratulations Bert
Posted by: David Petersen at July 5, 2004 11:37 AM
Congrats to Rutan and company! Go X-prize! May your efforts eventually lead to my inexpensive trip to outer space and back, where no man (common, that is) has gone before! I'd love to bring back the "wavering" flag from the moon and replace it with a new one.
Posted by: Mike Newman at July 5, 2004 01:10 PM
Congratulations, Burt. My contribution to the X-Prize in 1998 has taken a long time to be used! You open a new era for mankind.
Posted by: Peter Levey at July 5, 2004 05:24 PM
Congratulations on a job well done. And your spaceship looks like a spaceship too!
Posted by: mike kretsch at July 5, 2004 07:42 PM
Congratulations to all the Scaled Composites Team! I witnessed history in the making at the Mojave Airport! I laid in a windy sand storm from 1 a.m. until launch! I earned a deserving spot in the front row. I was thrilled to see my first space flight, and I hope to participate one in the future. I stayed well after landing when the truck pulling SpaceShipOne pulled in front of me, Burt immediately spotted a sign behind me that said, "SpaceShipOne, Government Zero!". He yelled at Mike, but he ran and got it himself. Mr. Rutan was about a foot away from me! This event is high on my list of best events in my 15 year old life. Everlasting memories were made. Thanks.
Posted by: Fidel Otañez at July 5, 2004 10:43 PM
Great going SpaceShipOne team!!! It's great seeing a team use simple straight forward ingenuity and common sense to accomplish such a great feat. Keep up the good work!!
Posted by: Bob Becker at July 5, 2004 11:05 PM
I consider myself fortunate to have seen the SpaceShipOne/White Knight during the Rutan birthday party on June 2003 and witness the historic flight this year. I can't wait for the entire story on the Discovery Channel later this year. Good luck with the X-prize Burt, Paul and Scaled!
Posted by: Ron Gowan at July 5, 2004 11:41 PM
Another first, Burt! Your name will definely be up there with the Wrights, Lindbergh, etc. in the annals of aviation as well as space exploration. Hope to get to hear about SpaceshipOne at the EAA AirVenture 2004 in a few weeks from you directly. Till then, Ad Astra...
Posted by: AJ Burke at July 5, 2004 11:43 PM
Way to go!!! Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Donnie Lowther at July 6, 2004 10:53 AM
Thanks for making the future look so optimistic and inspiring kids like myself to reach beyond ourselves and for the stars! Good work!!
Posted by: Cali Yun at July 6, 2004 08:58 PM
A heartfelt THANK YOU! I have watched your efforts with much anticipation - for those of us without the resource or opportunity, experiencing it through another is the next best thing. You make me believe that, if not I, at least my children and grandchildren will easily have the chance to go where today the vast majority of us can only dream of.
Posted by: Aaron Molenaar at July 7, 2004 09:55 AM
I am finally able to say "I was there". A great day has dawned. I will be on hand for every launch I can possibly attend. The crowd around me was equating your accomplishment with everything from Kitty Hawk to John Young and Columbia. My vote puts your team even with Lindbergh. Over the next few months, I hope to put you even with Sheppard and later Glenn. However long it takes, keep the spirit alive.
A huge Thank You for the effort.
Posted by: Roger Deeringer at July 7, 2004 12:19 PM
CONGRADULATIONS and thank you so much! with your huge accomplishment, you have inspired hundreds of ideas that will take us into the bright future of space travel. we cannot thank you enough!!
Posted by: Jacob Bristol at July 7, 2004 07:09 PM
Dear Mr.Rutan,
congradulations to you and Paul
Allen and Mike Melville on your successful
launch of SpaceShipOne from White Knight to
reach an altituce of more than 100 Kilometers
above the Earth on June 21,2004.Wishing you
and your team good luck on winning the X-Prize.
If you do,I hope you will mention the
contribution Dr.John Kentfield and his students
at the University of Calgary made on the design
of the wings of SpaceShipOne that brought Mike
Melville safely back to the surface.
Cordially,jfhadden@canada.com.
Posted by: John Hadden at July 8, 2004 01:11 AM
Congrats!
Please take your company as far as you can. Expand, expound and hire!!!!
Priorities:
1) Lower cost
2) Increase safety
3) Increase capacity
Issues:
1) Fuel
2) Complexity of systems - simplify!
3) Viable commercial venture - space manufacturing? mining? vacations resorts/tourism? harvesting of rare materials?
Posted by: Stephen Mordue at July 9, 2004 09:35 PM
Congratulations all on your incredible success. Your work has produced the first major advance in space flight since the doomed Shuttle project of the late seventies. Though we still have a long way to go, we will always have you to thank for getting us started down the path. Kudos and my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who worked on the project.
Posted by: Justin Houk at July 10, 2004 11:39 AM
Congratualtion Mr. Rutan: When I was 12 yrs old I put my name on a list to go to Mars,that was 50 years ago, that never happen. Now a child can put there name on a list and it will happen. Thanks to you!
Posted by: annie carr at July 11, 2004 12:45 PM
CONGRADULATIONS SpaceShipOne!!! May the door your team has opened never close.
Posted by: Arthur Proctor at July 11, 2004 10:34 PM
Excellent job. Betting on your team to win the X-Prize.
Posted by: Brad Haines at July 15, 2004 04:12 PM
Great Job, Burt !
thank you again for the show !
We hope to see an truly european team at the X-Prize one day !
Nicolas Turcat
nss france chairman
Posted by: Turcat at July 15, 2004 08:13 PM
Congratulations... next time book some space for me there, I'll be coming soon ;)!!
Posted by: Sudhanshu Garg at July 15, 2004 11:07 PM
GO and take us with you!!
Posted by: Robert Lutz at July 19, 2004 08:37 PM
On behalf of my small nieces, nephews, & their future, I want to extend to you, Mr. Rutan, countless appreciations. I want to thank you for your courage, passion, & determination. It is way past time for more "normal" people such as Burt Rutan & the SpaceShipOne team to follow the path set by Dennis Tito & Mark Shuttleworth. We civilians must do it for the very future of humanity.
Some day when they are older, I will tell my toddler relatives about your historic flight. I will tell them that in 2004 SpaceShipOne touched the face of the Cosmos...for us all.
Thank you again. Goodbye.
Posted by: Nichole Long at July 21, 2004 04:09 AM
Thank you also For Keeping The Space Dream Alive.You know I want to be an astronaut.I Got an Award from NASA for knowing the most sapce stuff in The State.Well Goodbye and thanks
Posted by: Stephen Williams at July 21, 2004 02:30 PM
Dear Mr.Rutan,
Congradulations to you, Paul Allen and Mike Melville on your successful launch of SpaceShipOne. I think now since congress voted to cut NASA's budget once again, that people like you are our only hope in human space exploration beyond low earth orbit. Good Luck in the future, Job well done, and God Speed.
Posted by: David Bowman at July 21, 2004 04:16 PM
Hello and Congradulations on a very exciting new chapter in human space flight. My feelings are, keep up the great work and don't stop until those destinations are reached that have been said are impossible to reach. Now that congress has dissapointed the american public once again by cutting funds to NASA, our hopes and dreams of a more distinct human presence in space can be encouraged by your work and success. Thanks again for all your hard work and I will be waiting to buy tickets for my chance to tour space.
Posted by: Stephen Rowsey at July 22, 2004 11:04 AM
Congratulations!
What an inpiration it is, to see individuals plan, create, and accomplish another tremendous feat for the Human species. Your efforts have brought common spaceflight a mighty step closer. A new dimension to Human activity is opening and the possibilities seem endless. Thank you.
Posted by: James Head at July 22, 2004 10:48 PM
Up and Onward! Great work, continue to explore and be a part of this. our next frontier, hopefully, one we will not try to destroy as we do here - Earthbound - I know that you have sparked interest in thousands of our young people and it will brighten their furtures considerably -Congratulations.
Posted by: Mary Slesinger at July 23, 2004 12:56 PM
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
You are a modern day Leonardo Devinci. You are a modern day Gene Rodenbury. George Lucas you are and the universe is your stage. This is no small step for mankind, it's a giant leap. Sir you are an inspiration. You are a genius.
HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH!!!!
Posted by: Winston Reid at July 24, 2004 12:45 AM
Thank you Burt and all the members who made SpaceShipOne happen. Most of all, congratulations on your remarkable achievement! June 21, 2004 is a day History will remember as humanity's first big step towards a space faring civilization. I wish I could have been part of the team - how awesome you all must feel.
Posted by: Joe Casale at July 28, 2004 06:28 PM
Congratulations! I wish I had been there in person. I am inspired more than ever now that maybe one day I will be able to go into space too. I look forward to your next launch.
Posted by: Erin Gallagher at August 1, 2004 10:03 AM
Hey Burt,
You probably won't see this one since it is so long after the initial flight, but I congratulate you and your team. Without vision, we are without hope. Your vision, your efforts, and your inspiration will help to rekindle the spirit of exploration that is essential to humanity. Thank you, sir, for giving our increasingly jaded society new insperation and... hope.
KW
Posted by: Keith Wick at August 19, 2004 11:54 PM
Thank you Burt and crew for proving that man has no limits on reaching the dream of mankind in space. Thank you for proving that sooner instead of later we all can have the option to see the Earth from above and who knows what else.
Posted by: Gregory Thalmann at August 20, 2004 04:03 PM
Hi Burt,
Thanks for taking the xprize seriously. Good Luck on your 2nd attempt. Hopefully you can turn it soon into a profitable adventure so that all of us can soon take rides above the atmosphere.
Thanks,
Craig Smith
Posted by: Craig Smith at August 24, 2004 10:59 PM
Congratulations on the successful mission of SpaceShipOne!! This is a great first step in getting control of the advancement in space exploration out of the hands of politicians who have their own agendas for withholding funds and dampening the effort!!! Thank you
Posted by: Larry J Simpson at September 1, 2004 08:27 PM
Congratulations to the entire Scaled Composites crew for a great job! Commercial space development is the only way we will ever be able to develop space travel and exploration in a reasonable time frame. NASA is just too slow and bogged down in bureaucracy and unstable funding based on the yearly whims of Congress. Space exploration desperately needs more successes like this to demonstrate that it can be done by anyone with a vision and relatively minimal funding.
Ad astra!
Posted by: Glenn Whiteside at September 4, 2004 10:54 PM
CONGRADULATIONS MR. RUTAN
MAY THESE FIRST FEW FLIGHTS BE JUST A BEGINNING FOR YOU AND YOU TEAM.
Posted by: WILLIAM WREATH at September 24, 2004 12:47 AM
I believe you are an inspiration to all, who believe that there is more to the future of the human race to come....
Posted by: Robb Way at September 29, 2004 02:38 PM
Two days left... What can I say... Go SpaceShipOne! Thank You Burt, Mike, and Paul. You are going to go down in history.
Posted by: Kamil Stefaniak at October 2, 2004 06:50 PM
Thanks for taking the Initiative, for having the Right Stuff and for Following Through on your dreams with the actions necessary to make it happen.
Posted by: Candace Pankanin at October 2, 2004 07:39 PM
Give you joy of your triumph!
Posted by: Brian Huff at October 11, 2004 05:12 AM
Congratulations for making your dreams come true. We thought that great aviation achiements where all in the past. You are the Wright brothers of today. Thanks
Posted by: Bill Mitchell at October 31, 2004 03:59 PM
A rebirth! All other challengers seemed so clumsy, your SpaceShipOne was sooo elegant, I'm so proud of you and yours!! Congratulations!!
Sincerely Jason Rhian
Posted by: Jason Rhian at November 6, 2004 02:32 AM
To Burt Rutan and his amazing crew.
I have made the following suggestion to the NSS bulletin board. I hopw you don't mind.
ChuckIvie
Hubble is a truly remarkable instrument and retiring it makes no more sense than retiring the 200 inch Hale telescope at Palomar. Hubble has seen only a fraction of its potential and should be kept in service. The problem is how.
The recent success of the X Prize and Space Ship One indicates that private enterprise can solve problems that the overnment can not. I would like to see a consortium created that would take ownership of Hubble and with it the responsibility of its maintenance and operation. The consortium could consist of major universities like CalTech, MIT, Prinston etc. as well as major corporate entities such as Microsoft, McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Hughes etc. A good place to start looking for design ideas would be Scaled Composites and Rutan and his brilliant staff of engineers. They have consistently shown that they are up to very chalenging tasks. I think the jury is still out as to whether maintenance should be performed by robotics, a human crew or both but I suspect that a privately held consortium can solve the problems quicker and more economically than a government agency. It's worth a look and considering the alternative of letting Hubble die it is a viable approach.
Chuck Ivie
Planetarium Facilitator
Victor Valley College
Victorville, Ca.
iviec@vvc.edu
Posted by: Chuck Ivie at January 30, 2005 06:24 PM
To Burt Rutan and all the many people who supported this effort,
I can't thank you enough for making the next big step for mankind. And I don't say that in jest, or lightly. It is very true. You have taken the first step to making space travel available to everyone.
I was 8 years old when men walked on the moon for the first time. It put a spark in my imagination and I spent all my life with the desire to do what you have done. But for most of us, it is beyond our reach. You have made this dream a reality, and put in the reach of the generation following mine. And for that I'm very greatful.
We have a civilian astronought, and a great peice of rocket science that got him there. For people like myself, it is a dream lived. Even if it was only from whatching a web broadcast. I hope you will read this and know that people like myself have seen a new set of space heros and explorers to admire. It's not something we see often enough. And twice in my liftime is a true blessing.
Congratulations and thank you.
-Tom Lee
Posted by: Tom Lee at March 25, 2005 02:46 AM
Congratulations to SpaceShip One for the breaking the records and for initiating the era of private space flights.
We are all waiting to fly to the space. Let US government end all red-tape and give funding and policy support to private Space flights.
Kedar Badu
www.geocities.com/gasponepal
Posted by: Kedar P Badu at May 16, 2005 02:50 AM