SpaceShipOne Back in Action

JoeSilva writes "After a 3 month wait, Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne is back in the skies above Mojave! Not only is it patched up from a failed landing gear, it's got a 'thermal protection system' installed. Looks like high temp insulation on the leading edges. Also they have a picture of it with 'the rocket motor for the flight 13p'. This was the 12th SpaceShipOne flight."

I like that...

[Phillup]

They have a "falling bathtub mode".

Wonder how much they could make selling rides on that thing.

Re:Lucky 13?

[WormholeFiend]

if the 13th flight experiences major problems, and the pilot(s) survive heroically, Hollywood can make a movie out of it!

Rutan, we have a problem!
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I'm waiting...

[Seoulstriker]

I'm waiting for Carmack to respond to the space race. I'm also waiting for a release date for DooM3! :)

Love that Ship!

[Papatoast]

It is soooooo Buck Rogers-esque!! Not the late 70's/early 80's TV show Buck Rogers, I mean the 1930's - 1940's Buck Rogers.

Re:Looks good

[Skyshadow]

Giving them mars kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Wait until you see the property tax bill...

Re:A good thing too

[LS]

Dude, you're not a prophet, but you are a good Karma whore. What does the Bush administration and Mars have to do with this? How could you know what propulsion system is going to be used without NASA even working on it yet? And this Space Elevator company is a bunch of nerds building Lego Mindstorm models of their fantasy elevator!!!

Re:Armadillo Dreamin'

[LS]

Hmm, I don't know if I agree with your characterization either. So Rutan is not a rocket builder, but he has a massive aviation engineering background and physical infrastructure in place. The difference between the Carmack and Rutan teams is likely significant - to balance it out, I would bet that Rutan would have a hell of a time building a top-notch first-person shooter...

LS

I called it....

[theirishman]

Shotgun!!!!!!

TPS report

[Apogaion]

I wouldn't trust any Thermal Protection System until all the employees have submitted their TPS reports in triplicate.

Re:In Canada...

[zero_offset]

That's a strange thing to call Death Valley.