Newsletter TDF 1.2/2004
SpaceShipOne re-opened the astronautic way, after 36 years!
by Adriano Autino
Dear
Coplanetaries,
Today is a historical day, and nothing will be as
before, on our old planet. June 21st 2004 will be remembered in the
history as an important date, at least as much important as the ones of the historical flights made by the Wright brothers,
and Charles Lindbergh, around one century ago.
Both that SpaceShipOne succeeds in being awarded the 10
million of dollars of the X-Prize, or doesn't succeed, now the enterprise
has been done. This morning, in the desert of Mojave, a vehicle entirely
drawn and built by privates (the U.S. Scaled Composites, owned by the
living aeronautical legend Burt Rutan, sponsorised by Paul Allen,
cofounder of Microsoft) reached the sub-orbital height of 100 kms, and
returned to earth after a parabolic flight of about 1.5 hours. At the
guide of the vehicle the 62 years old pilot Mike Melvill. To be awarded of
the X-Prize, SpaceShipOne will owe to repeat twice the flight, at distance
of fifteen days, with a simple ordinary maintenance between the two
flights, bringing on board three not specifically trained civilians. First, technology. The thread that SpaceShipOne has
renewed today is the one interrupted 36 years ago, when the promising
development line of X-15 was abandoned. X-15 was a sub orbital plane that
made 199 flights between 1959 and 1968, reaching 67 miles, almost 108 kms. X-15 was brought to 13 kms by a B52, then, released, it
ignited its rocket motor and accelerated to mach 4 - 6, reaching the
space. X-15 was sacrificed on the altar of the business of the spendable
rockets builders, giving life to the shuttle, a not entirely reusable
machine, built in only five very expensive samples, and never raised to an
industrial production. That choice – with its tragic consequences of the
1986 Challengers tragedy, and of the Columbia one in 2003 – it mainly
marked the abandonment of the astronautics and the beginning of the space
politics targeted to earth, and not upward. It began the era of the
telecommunication and earth observation satellites, while Astronautics was
relegated to the role of mere scientific experiment, depriving it entirely
of its prince role: the space exploration before, the industrialization of
the geo-lunar space then, and the solar system colonization in a still
longer perspective. But today all this is history. SpaceShipOne has shown
different things, all of an importance that will be fully understood only
in the months and in the years to come:
(i) it is not true that to put a
kg in orbit still has to cost 20.000 American dollars, when the new
vehicles will be industrially set, it will cost very less;
(ii) it is not
true that to reach space we need the technologies of the big government
agencies;
(iii) it is not true that to go to space we need long trainings
and need to be young (Mike Melvill is 62 years old!).
This only to start.
Those people who fear the environmental cost of the
space flight should think about the huge cost, for the terrestrial
environment, of sticking on the oil power, in comparison to the solar
energy (clean and boundless) harvested in space and stored on earth in
form of hydrogen (just to make an example). Also let's wonder why the two
ecologist lobbies (Green Peace and WWF, both fed by the oil lobbies),
historically always supported only and entirely the so-called alternative
sources (wind and terrestrial photovoltaic), that don't have any
possibility to compete, neither quantitatively nor economically with the
ultra-power of oil, while they always opposed the space technologies and
kept on ashamedly silent about hydrogen.
Today also the above is history. Absurd and retrograde
wars where ignited among opposite oil lobbyists. They try everything to
denigrate and stonewall the scientific culture and the technological
research, favoring every sort of ideological trash, in a criminal attempt
to prolong their dieing empire, putting at risk the same continuation of
the human civilization. But then a small prize, founded in 1996 by two
visionary entrepreneurs, shifted the initiative of some good willing men
and women, and a small thing happens, as the Wright brothers' flight was,
one of those small things, that however change the history!
All those people
who take care to the continuation of
our civilization, this night are toasting with champagne!
Long live to SpaceShipOne! Long live to Burt Rutan!
Long live to Mike Melvill and all those people who contributed to this
success!
Today, more than ever:
Many astronaut friends (in the ideal, if not in the job), attended this
day with trepidation and anxiety, and many comments cross the web,
especially on the sites and lists dedicated to astronautics, space tourism
and space supporting in general. It is also a little bit thanks to all
these people, that encouraged the participants to the X-Prize to follow
their work, if today we are here to comment happily this great success!
Aim High!
Adriano Autino
[021.AA.TDF.2004 - 21.06.2004]
