Today marks twenty years since SpaceShipOne was released from underneath White Knight and Mike Melvill rocketed up into space to in the first privately funded spaceflight. Join us to look back at SpaceShipOne’s historic spaceflight: https://lnkd.in/g7KpXQmd #FirstFlightFridays #OTD #PrivateSpaceFlight #Astronaut #SpaceShipOne #20thanniversary #space
This truly was a historic flight. This flight and the work at Scaled that followed inspired me to become an aerospace engineer. I had the pleasure of seeing White Knight and SpaceShipOne at Oshkosh the following year having flown there from Idaho as a newly minted pilot. So many incredible memories that I'll cherish for a lifetime.
I remember at the turn of the century Burt Rutan talking about how NASA should just fund commercial companys to go to space because they could do it more economically and better. I thought that was a pretty wild idea! And the rest is history! Kudos to Scaled for leading the way, yet another time!
Yep, that’s why it hangs in the Smithsonian!
I remember the flight very well. Amazing. I was out in Mojave shortly thereafter and had the opportunity to stick my head in SS1. I'll never forget it. Scaled rocks!
I remember watching that flight with my family while going through TPS at Edwards. Very inspiring for all of us. Can't believe it's been twenty years!
Congratulations many times over from all of the XPRIZE OGs! The day was monumental! We should never forget the brilliance of Burt Rutan and legacy of Mikes great flying!
I was privileged to be on hand for the second flight piloted by Brian Binnie, with a member of hypersonics SME Johnny Armstrong’s staff—just one of many cool experiences in my time as a historian at Edwards AFB.
Experimental Test Pilot - Commercial Space Pilot at Virgin Galactic
3moA flight that changed the history of commercial space flight for everyone!