I got to witness history in the making on September 29, 2004. I
arrived at the Civilian Flight Test Center in Mojave, California at
4am. The official X-Prize program began just after 6am and was
broadcast live on the internet. Takeoff was around 7am, separation
and rocket burn shortly after 8am and landing around 8:30.
On the general public viewing area flight line, we were able to hear
the audio of the live X-Prize
webcast while watching the actual events unfold before our eyes.
It was spectacular to witness Burt Rutan's amazing White Knight and
SpaceShipOne aircraft takeoff, fly and land safely, taking it half way
to the X-Prize of $10 million. White Night carried SpaceShipOne right
in front of us as it taxied out for takeoff. We could actually see
them and their chase planes circle up until they seemed to disolve
into the sky as little tiny invisible specks. When the rocket lit, we
could see a line zooming straight up in the sky for well over a
minute! Then there was nothing to see until the chase planes and SS1
were back down to a visible altitude in their spiraling decent to
landing.
I'm not very good with a camera, but here are just a few shots I
actually took. There are much better quality pictures available
on-line in the links below. And, if you have time, the webcast is
very well done and definitely worth seeing. The webcasts include
amazing shots taken from radar tracked cameras on the ground and
on-board chase planes and on SS1 itself. I will be tuning in to watch
flight X2 on-line.
What an incredible day. I am so thankful I got to be there and see this historical event.
Timothy D. Witham
<twitham@surewest.net>
Time-stamp: "2004-10-01 09:00:01 twitham"