Monday, October 04, 2004

By Jove, I Think They've Got It

I've just watched the second flight in the Rutan/Allen SpaceShipOne X-prize attempt and, although I don't think that the maximum altitude's known as yet, it looked to me as if they've probably achieved the target of 100 kilometers above the earth. The flight didn't appear to be as eventful as the last one, with its 20 plus rolls as it climbed, but still a couple of times I didn't think that it looked that stable, so congratulations to the pilot.

I suppose that the amusing thing about the program is that its cost is reckoned to have comfortably exceeded 20 million dollars - yet the prize itself is "just" $10 million!