SpaceShip1-WhiteKnight

=__**SpaceShipOne-WhiteKnightOne**__= media type="youtube" key="FNXahIoXMw8" width="425" height="350"
 * //Project Type// || **Two Stage to orbit, Spaceplane - Rocket** ||
 * //Operating Company// || **Virgin Galactic** ||
 * //Host Nation// || **United States / United Kingdom** ||
 * //Program cost// ||  ||
 * //Cost per vehicle// ||  ||
 * //Life support// || **Yes** ||
 * //Status// || **Retired (2004)** ||

Useful link
Virgin Galactic home - http://www.virgingalactic.com/

=SpaceShipOne 10/04/2011= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Ambox_content.png width="40" height="40"]] || This article **needs attention from an expert on the subject**. See the [|talk page] for details. Consider [|associating this request] with a [|WikiProject]. //(October 2010)// ||

SpaceShipOne||||~ Astronaut Mike Melvill after his September 29, 2004 spaceflight || //Passengers:// 2 || Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundreth anniversary of the [|Wright Brothers]' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as [|flight 15P], was piloted by [|Mike Melvill]. A few days before that flight, the [|Mojave Air and Space Port] was licensed as the USA's first commercial spaceport. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. [|commercial astronaut]. The overall project name was [|"Tier One"] which has evolved into [|Virgin Galactic Tier 1b] with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space within the next few years. [[|hide]]
 * ~ Description ||
 * **Role:** || [|Spaceplane] ||
 * **Mothership:** || [|White Knight] ||
 * **Crew:** || //Crew:// 1
 * **Manufacturer:** || [|Scaled Composites] ||
 * **Primary user:** || [|Mojave Aerospace Ventures] ||
 * **Number Built:** || 1 ||
 * **Status:** || Retired ||
 * **Successor:** || [|SpaceShipTwo] ||
 * SpaceShipOne** is a retired [|suborbital] [|air-launched] [|spaceplane] that completed the first [|manned] [|private spaceflight] in 2004. That same year, it won the $10 million [|Ansari X Prize] and was immediately retired from active service. Its mothership was named [|"White Knight"]. Both craft were developed and flown by [|Mojave Aerospace Ventures], which was a joint venture between [|Paul Allen] and [|Scaled Composites], [|Burt Rutan]'s aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately $25 million.
 * ==Contents==
 * [|1] [|Development and winning the X Prize]
 * [|1.1] [|Flights]
 * [|1.2] [|Astronauts]
 * [|2] [|Specifications]
 * [|3] [|Retirement]
 * [|4] [|Replica]
 * [|5] [|Future efforts]
 * [|6] [|Gallery]
 * [|7] [|See also]
 * [|8] [|References]
 * [|9] [|External links] ||

[[|edit]] Development and winning the X Prize
(L to R) Marion Blakely (FAA), Mike Melvill; Richard Branson, Burt Rutan, Brian Binnie, and Paul Allen reflect on a mission accomplished (October 4, 2004)

SpaceShipOne was developed by Mojave Aerospace Ventures (a joint venture between [|Paul Allen] and [|Scaled Composites], [|Burt Rutan]'s aviation company, in their [|Tier One] program), without government funding. On June 21, 2004, it made the first privately funded human spaceflight. On October 4, it won the $10 million [|Ansari X Prize], by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board and with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. Development costs were estimated to be $25 million, funded completely by [|Paul Allen]. During its test programme, SpaceShipOne set a number of important "firsts", including first privately funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3, first privately funded manned spacecraft to exceed [|100km altitude], and first privately funded reusable manned spacecraft. SpaceShipOne is an experimental [|air-launched] rocket-powered aircraft with [|suborbital] flight capability that uses a [|hybrid rocket] motor. The design features a unique "feathering" [|atmospheric reentry] system where the rear half of the wing and the [|twin tail] booms folded upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increased [|drag] while remaining stable. The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to the [|X-15] than orbiting spacecraft like the [|Space Shuttle]. Accelerating a spacecraft to [|orbital speed] requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3.[|[][|1][|]] SpaceShipOne connected to its mother ship White Knight

SpaceShipOne is [|registered] with the [|FAA] as **[|N328KF]**. //N// is the prefix for US-registered aircraft; //328KF// was chosen by Scaled Composites to stand for 328 K (abbreviation for 1000) feet (about [|100 kilometers]), the officially designated [|edge of space]. The original choice of registry number, **N100KM**, was already taken. N328KF is registered as a [|glider], reflecting the fact that most of its independent flight is unpowered. SpaceShipOne's first flight, [|01C], was an unmanned [|captive carry] [|flight test] on May 20, 2003. Glide tests followed, starting with [|flight 03G] on August 7, 2003. Its first powered flight, [|flight 11P], was made on December 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the [|first powered flight]. On April 1, 2004, Scaled Composites received the first license for [|sub-orbital] rocket flights to be issued by the [|US Office of Commercial Space Transportation]. This license permitted the company to conduct powered test flights over the course of one year. On June 17, 2004, Mojave Airport reclassified itself (part-time) as the [|Mojave Spaceport]. [|Flight 15P] on June 21, 2004, was SpaceShipOne's first [|spaceflight], and the first privately funded human spaceflight. There were a few control issues,[|[][|2][|]] but these were resolved prior to the Ansari X PRIZE flights that followed, with [|flight 17P] on October 4, 2004, winning the prize. The SpaceShipOne Team was awarded the Space Achievement Award[|[][|3][|]] by the [|Space Foundation] in 2005.

[[|edit]] Flights
SpaceShipOne in flight.

Cockpit of WhiteKnight in flight, EFIS display edited to look like SpaceShipOne.

All of the flights of SpaceShipOne were from the [|Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center]. Flights were numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20, 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appended **C** indicates that the flight was a captive carry, **G** indicates an unpowered glide, and **P** indicates a powered flight. If the actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed. In the table below, the "top speed" reported is the [|Mach number] at burn-out (the end of the rocket burn). This is not an absolute speed. The flights were accompanied by two [|chase planes]; an [|Extra 300] owned and flown by Chuck Coleman, and a [|Beechcraft Starship].[|[][|6][|]]
 * SpaceShipOne flights**||~ Flight ||~ Date ||~ Top speed ||~ Altitude ||~ Duration ||~ Pilot ||
 * [|01C] || May 20, 2003 || Mach 0.53 || 14.63 km[|[][|4][|]] || 1 h 48 min || unmanned ||
 * [|02C] || July 29, 2003 ||  || 14 km[|[][|5][|]] || 2 h 06 min || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|03G] || August 7, 2003 || 278 km/h || 14.33 km[|[][|4][|]] || 19 min 00 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|04GC] || August 27, 2003 || 370 km/h[|[][|4][|]] || 14 km[|[][|5][|]] || 1 h 06 min || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|05G] || August 27, 2003 || 370 km/h || 14.69 km[|[][|4][|]] || 10 min 30 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|06G] || September 23, 2003 || 213 km/h || 14.26 km[|[][|4][|]] || 12 min 15 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|07G] || October 17, 2003 || 241 km/h || 14.08 km[|[][|4][|]] || 17 min 49 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|08G] || November 14, 2003 || 213 km/h || 14.42 km[|[][|4][|]] || 19 min 55 s || [|Peter Siebold] ||
 * [|09G] || November 19, 2003 || 213 km/h || 14.72 km[|[][|4][|]] || 12 min 25 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|10G] || December 4, 2003 || 213 km/h || 14.75 km[|[][|4][|]] || 13 min 14 s || [|Brian Binnie] ||
 * [|11P] || December 17, 2003 || Mach 1.2 || 20.67 km[|[][|4][|]] || 18 min 10 s || [|Brian Binnie] ||
 * [|12G] || March 11, 2004 || 232 km/h || 14.78 km[|[][|4][|]] || 18 min 30 s || [|Peter Siebold] ||
 * [|13P] || April 8, 2004 || Mach 1.6 || 32.00 km[|[][|4][|]] || 16 min 27 s || [|Peter Siebold] ||
 * [|14P] || May 13, 2004 || Mach 2.5 || 64.43 km[|[][|4][|]] || 20 min 44 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|15P] || June 21, 2004 || Mach 2.9 || 100.124 km[|[][|4][|]] || 24 min 05 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|16P] || September 29, 2004 || Mach 2.92 || 102.93 km[|[][|4][|]] || 24 min 11 s || [|Mike Melvill] ||
 * [|17P] || October 4, 2004 || Mach 3.09 || 112.014 km[|[][|4][|]] || 23 min 56 s || [|Brian Binnie] ||

[[|edit]] Astronauts
The SpaceShipOne pilots came from a variety of [|aerospace] backgrounds. [|Mike Melvill] is a [|test pilot], [|Brian Binnie] is a former Navy pilot, and [|Doug Shane] and [|Peter Siebold] are engineers at Scaled Composites. They qualified to fly SpaceShipOne by training on the [|Tier One flight simulator] and in White Knight and other Scaled Composites aircraft.

[[|edit]] Specifications
Rear view

//Data from// astronautix.com[|[][|5][|]] **General characteristics** **Performance**
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Aero-stub_img.svg/20px-Aero-stub_img.svg.png width="20" height="20" caption="Aero-stub img.svg" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aero-stub_img.svg"]] || //This [|aircraft] article is missing some (or all) of its [|specifications]. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by [|adding them].// ||
 * **Crew:** one, pilot
 * **Capacity:** 2 passengers
 * **Length:** 16 ft 5 in (8,05 m)
 * **[|Wingspan]:** 16 ft 5 in (8,05 m)
 * **Height:**
 * **Wing area:** 161.4 ft² (15 m²)
 * **[|Empty weight]:** 2,640 lb (1,200 kg)
 * **Loaded weight:** 7,920 lb (3,600 kg)
 * **Powerplant:** 1 × [|N2O]/[|HTPB] [|SpaceDev] [|Hybrid rocket motor], 7,500 kgf (74 kN)
 * **[|Isp]:** 250 s (2450 Ns/kg)
 * **Burn time:** 87 seconds
 * **[|Aspect Ratio]:** 1.6
 * **[|Maximum speed]:** Mach 3.09 (2,170 mph, 3,518 km/h)
 * **[|Range]:** 35 nm (40 mi, 65 km)
 * **[|Service ceiling]:** 367,360 ft (112,000 m)
 * **[|Rate of climb]:** 82,000 ft/min (416.6 m/s)
 * **[|Wing loading]:** 49.07 lb/ft² (240 kg/m²)
 * **[|Thrust/weight]:** 2.08

[[|edit]] Retirement
SpaceShipOne now hangs in the [|National Air and Space Museum] in Washington D.C.

SpaceShipOne's spaceflights were watched by large crowds at Mojave Spaceport. A fourth suborbital flight, Flight 18P, was originally scheduled for October 13, 2004. However, Burt Rutan decided not to risk damage to the historic craft, and cancelled it and all future flights. On July 25, 2005 SpaceShipOne was taken to the [|Oshkosh Airshow] in [|Oshkosh], [|Wisconsin]. After the airshow, Mike Melvill and crew flew the [|White Knight], carrying SpaceShipOne, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where Melvill spoke to a group of about 300 military and civilian personnel. Later in the evening, Melvill gave a presentation at the Dayton Engineers Club, entitled "Some Experiments in Space Flight", in honor of [|Wilbur Wright]'s now-famous presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1901 entitled "Some Experiments in Flight." The White Knight then transported SpaceShipOne to the [|Smithsonian Institution's] [|National Air and Space Museum] to be put on display. It was unveiled on Wednesday October 5, 2005 in the Milestones of Flight gallery and is now on display to the public in the main atrium between the [|Spirit of St. Louis] and the [|Bell X-1]. SpaceShipOne became a popular [|model rocket] in 2004. [|Estes Industries] currently offers several flying model rockets of SpaceShipOne. A piece of SpaceShipOne's [|carbon fiber] material was launched aboard the [|New Horizons] mission to [|Pluto] in 2006.[|[][|7][|]]

[[|edit]] Replica
SpaceShipOne Replica in normal configuration

A year after its appearance in the Oshkosh Airventure airshow, the [|Experimental Aircraft Association] featured a full-scale replica of the spacecraft in a wing of its [|museum] which housed other creations of Burt Rutan. Using the same fiberglass molds as the original, it was so exact in its replication - despite not having any doors or interior - that it was dubbed "Serial 2 Scaled" by [|Scaled Composites]. Each and every painstaking detail in its appearance was matched, down to the N328KF registration number on its fuselage. It is so precise that, during a video presentation held every hour in the museum, it can display the two different modes of its 'feathering' ability, albeit through the aid of pulleys and wires (there is no machinery in the replica).[|[][|8][|]] Another full-scale replica of SpaceShipOne hangs in the rotunda of the William Thomas Terminal at [|Meadows Field Airport] in [|Bakersfield] and a third is on display in the Mojave Spaceport's Legacy Park alongside the original [|Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle]. [//[|citation needed]//]

[[|edit]] Future efforts
With the success of Tier One meeting its project goals, a successor project started in 2004 was [|Virgin Galactic Tier 1b]. The successor ship names [|SpaceShipTwo] and [|White Knight Two]. The name of the joint venture between [|Virgin Group] and Scaled Composites is called [|The Spaceship Company], with a goal of carrying passengers under the name [|Virgin Galactic] spaceliner with an initial target of a commercial fleet of five spacecraft.[|[][|9][|]][|[][|10][|]] In August 2005, Virgin Galactic stated that if the upcoming suborbital service with SpaceShipTwo is successful, the follow-up [|SpaceShipThree].[|[][|11][|]][|[][|12][|]]

[[|edit]] Gallery
[|Hybrid rocket] engine detail of SpaceShipOne ([|more information]).
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/SpaceShipOne_schematic.png/120px-SpaceShipOne_schematic.png width="120" height="42" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SpaceShipOne_schematic.png"]]

SpaceShipOne landing after its June 21, 2004 space flight ([|Flight 15P])
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Kluft-photo-SS1-landing-June-2004-Img_1406c.jpg/120px-Kluft-photo-SS1-landing-June-2004-Img_1406c.jpg width="120" height="80" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kluft-photo-SS1-landing-June-2004-Img_1406c.jpg"]]

SpaceShipOne in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. with the [|Spirit of Saint Louis] and [|Bell X-1] "Glamorous Glennis"
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Ss1_smithsonian.jpg/120px-Ss1_smithsonian.jpg width="120" height="72" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ss1_smithsonian.jpg"]]


 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Spaceship_One.JPG/120px-Spaceship_One.JPG width="120" height="90" caption="Spaceship One.JPG" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spaceship_One.JPG"]]

[[|edit]] See also

 * [|List of spaceflights (2004)]
 * [|Mojave Magic: A Turtle's Eye View of SpaceShipOne]
 * [|X-15]

[[|edit]] References

 * 1) **[|^]**[|Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth's Orbit]


 * 1) **[|^]** Brekke, Dan (7 July 2004). [|"SpaceShipOne Back on Course"]. //Wired// . [] . Retrieved 7 February 2011.
 * 2) **[|^]**[]


 * 1) ^ [|//**a**//][|//**b**//][|//**c**//][|//**d**//][|//**e**//][|//**f**//][|//**g**//][|//**h**//][|//**i**//][|//**j**//][|//**k**//][|//**l**//][|//**m**//][|//**n**//][|//**o**//][|//**p**//] [|"SpaceShipOne Flight Tests"]. //Scaled Composites// . [].
 * 2) ^ [|//**a**//][|//**b**//][|//**c**//] [|"SpaceShipOne"]. //Encyclopedia Astronautica// . [].
 * 3) **[|^]** Jefferson, Catherine (2004). [|"First Private Manned Space Flight"] . [].
 * 4) **[|^]** [|"Pluto Mission to Carry Piece of SpaceShipOne"]. Space.com. December 20, 2005 . [].
 * 5) **[|^]** Jeff Hecht (29 July 2005). [|"SpaceShipOne"]. New Scientist. Archived from [|the original] on 2008-05-02 . [] . Retrieved 2008-06-21.
 * 6) **[|^]** Leonard David. [|"Virgin Galactic Spaceliner Steps Forward"]. Space News . [] . Retrieved 2007-04-06 . [//[|dead link]//]
 * 7) **[|^]** [|"Space tourism company to fly in 2008"]. AirVenture Museum . [] . Retrieved 2007-04-06.
 * 8) **[|^]** [|"SpaceShipThree poised to follow if SS2 succeeds"]. Flight International. 23 August 2005 . [] . Retrieved 2007-04-06.
 * 9) **[|^]** jnhtx (87543) (July 30, 2006). [|"Notes on Rutan presentations at EAA Oshkosh"]. Slashdot . [] . Retrieved 2007-04-06.
 * //SpaceShipOne: an illustrated history// by Dan Linehan, Foreward by Arthur Charles Clarke (2008) [|ISBN 076033188X]