Kings of the High Frontier III

Private Spaceship Encounters Glitches In Record-Setting Flight

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 01:35 pm ET
21 June 2004

MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA -- There were tense times during the sky-blistering flight of SpaceShipOne here this morning. Fighting control problems, pilot Mike Melvill wrestled with several anomalies that cut short a pre-planned altitude mark.

However, the first non-governmental rocket ship did succeed in flying to the edge of space, earning the craft’s pilot, Mike Melvill, the first set of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-issued commercial astronaut wings.

At a post-landing press briefing, the 63-year old Melvill described a series of technical snags that haunted his record-setting flight. Right after motor ignition, the pilot said the craft rolled 90 degrees to the left, then 90 degrees to the right. "It has never ever done that before," he explained.

AND

Upon touchdown and climbing out of the SpaceShipOne’s cockpit, Melvill was greeted by Apollo moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin.

"It meant a lot," Melvill said. "To have him come up and shake my hand and congratulate me and tell me that I’ve joined the club…that was serious stuff."

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Remember, mankind is an explorer, and the point is- he made it, and I am very anxious for his next flight, and the others that will follow.

--WP