I suppose that after SWAT Training Video: Master the Art we have not watched anything really brutal and striking. It is high time to do that straight away, is not it? Have you ever seen SpaceShipOne videos or at least have heard about it? Anyway, I am here to tell a little bit about it.
SpaceShipOne is a high speed rocket-powered aircraft manufactured by Scaled Composites. It is the first aircraft funded privately without any government support. The total development costs of the aircraft are about $ 25 million. The first flight of it was an unmanned test that took place on the 20th May, 2003. Then goes a number of flights and tests that have helped to improve the aircraft’s work. There were 17 flights in all, during which only three pilots had a chance to handle the SpaceShipOne – Mike Melvill, Peter Siebold, and Brian Binnie. The last flight of the flying wonder took place on 4th October, 2004. After that the SpaceShipOne turned into a museum piece.
The SpaceShipOne won several prizes, among which there are the following ones: Ansari X PRIZE at the rate of $ 10 million for reaching 100 kilometer altitude twice within two weeks. Another achievement is Space Achievement Award 2005 from Space Foundation.
The SpaceShipOne features 15 m² of wing area, 5 m of length, 87 seconds of burn time, 3 people on board as maximum, 2,170 mph, 3,518 km/h of maximum speed, etc.
After its retirement in 2004 it was announced about SpaceShipTwo development that was supposed to be more powerful with better performance characteristics. The project was successful, and the result was unveiled on July 28th, 2009. But as early as in August, 2005 it was announce that if SpaceShipTwo was successful, the next version SpaceShipThree would be an orbital craft.
