Kaitlyn Mae Rides A Spaceship

Kaitlyn Mae Rides a SpaceShip
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Grandmother is very jealous, Kaitlyn Mae, that one day YOU will be able to board a space vehicle and take a trip to outer space.

Whereas, let’s get real here, Grandmother will likely never get that chance.

Not that, you understand Kaitlyn Mae, Grandmother would on this day of our Lord, even do such a thing assuming it were even possible.

Know now, Kaitlyn, that the events that will allow you to take your leisurely trip through the atmosphere (perhaps on your honeymoon?) are occurring as Grandmother types. More, the conditions that are allowing the endeavor to grow and thrive have been in place for over 200 years.

Because, sweet granddaughter, only in America, so says the song, could such a thing be happening at all.

Freedom, sweet grandchild, allow all human beings to strive to be the best that they can be. Of course, not every human being reaches their maximum potential but whether they agree or not, they do have a choice in this great country.

Consider the players in the current race to space. Two teams, one American and one Canadian, are competing to win a ten million dollar award for completing two trips to outer space within a specified period of time. The backer of the ten million dollar prize is a wealthy entrepreneur who evidently and for reasons of his own, wants to kick start America’s private space program.

The American team has backers that includes Microsoft, Virgin Airlines and others who not only want to win that ten million dollars, but also want, hey, to perfect trips to outer space.

Why?

Marketing, child! How else is Kaitlyn going to take her honeymoon trip to outer space unless some brave and entrepreneurial types take the gamble?

Someday there will be entire outer space theme parks. There will be, of course, rocket ships taking the curious on a trip to the clouds. The rest of the amusement park will be devoted to space type rides, simulated space trips, musicals about outer space, and a water park on the “moon”. We must not forget, of course, the kiddie rides in “Alien Alley”.

Space ships will be rented by wedding parties, perhaps entire weddings will take place in outer space. Which makes Grandmother wonder the state in which the marriage would be registered or further, Grandmother wonders, perhaps this is a solution for the current furor over gay marriage. Let them get married in outer space!

Now people are going to get rich with all of this, Kaitlyn, which is precisely why those wealthy entrepreneurs are putting their bucks behind this endeavor. Nothing wrong with making a lot of money, Kaitlyn Mae, if this is part of your American dream.

If the government reaches into our pockets too much, Kaitlyn, they will take the money in your wallet and give it to lazy constituents that will vote for the incumbents. The money Kaitlyn wanted to invest in space exploration, you understand, is thus given, not to the far-thinking entrepreneurs, but instead to the citizens who dream of sleeping late instead of flying to outer space.

Okay, it’s an editorial but there’s deep truth in the notion.

If the entrepreneurs are not free to live a life without government interference in terms of religion or even fear for one’s life, well this too puts a damper on such as dreams and goals.

The United States of America, Kaitlyn, if the Democrats can keep their hands out of our pockets to re-distribute our money to those who would vote for them, is designed to allow every one of us to grow and dream and thrive and achieve the dream.

We’re not running from crazed Mullahs or hiding from terrorists behind locked doors is what I’m saying here Kaitlyn Mae.

Keep this missive close at hand, Kaitlyn, for the day when you class takes a field trip to outer space. You can then tell your classmates that your Grandmother was there when it all began.

And she did, as expected, have an opinion.

Below is an update on the status of SpaceShipOne as it currently stands on this day of our Lord. By the time fine readers peruse this grandmotherly missive, SpaceShipOne will likely have already completed its required second journey and won the ten million bucks.

The Canadians? Never happen. Too much socialism, no work ethic, lazy.

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The rolling experienced by SpaceShipOne on its first Ansari X Prize flight on Wednesday will not jeopardise the team's chances of winning the $10 million purse, team members said in a post-flight briefing. The cause of the rolling is now being investigated.

Initial radar measurements suggest the rocket reached an altitude of 103 kilometres (337,500 feet), which, if confirmed, means it passed the required 100 km (328,084 ft) threshold for reaching space.

The spacecraft, designed by Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, will now have to repeat the feat by 13 October to take the prize. Company president Burt Rutan says he will announce on Thursday whether the team will make its second run as scheduled on 4 October.

"One down, one to go," said X Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis, after the flight.

Rough ride

The craft and its pilot, Mike Melvill, touched down safely at California's Mojave Airport at 0834 PDT (1634 BST) on Wednesday. But the flight did not go completely according to plan. After SpaceShipOne separated from its carrier airplane, White Knight, at 14,150 metres (46,400 feet) and fired its engine, the rocket began to roll as it shot upward.

Beginning at about 48,770 m (160,000 ft), the ride became rough, said Melvill. He said the craft made about 20 turns at the top of the climb - rolling about once every two seconds. The air is so thin at those altitudes that Melvill had to use a specially designed system of air jets to stop the rolling until the rocket could change its wing orientation to freefall stably back to Earth, as planned.

The rolling made for some tense moments for spectators watching close-up video of the flight. "Your heart is really in your throat when these things happen," said Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who provided an estimated $20 million for the rocket's development.

Rutan and others in the flight control room also got worried and asked Melvill to cut short the planned 88-second engine burn. Melvill checked that the rocket would reach 100 km, then shut off the rocket 11 seconds ahead of schedule.

'Kind of cool'

"He didn't feel as uncomfortable as we did so he let it run another couple seconds. He wants to win the X Prize, too," said Rutan.

"I didn't have any discomfort - I thought it was kind of cool," Melvill said, adding that he even took a moment to snap some digital photos after the rocket had stabilised.

The cause of the rolling is unknown. "It probably was something I did," Melvill suggested, like accidentally stepping on a rudder. He also explained that he was probably the main cause of the rocket going about 35 km off course on a 21 June flight into space, possibly by overcompensating for wind shear.

In fact, high wind shear at 60,960 m (200,000 ft) may have contributed slightly to the rolling, Rutan said. Since the rocket's first flight, engineers have noticed the craft is prone to roll when exposed to wind, and Rutan says he will fix this by modifying the craft's shape in future models.

New era

"This is a prototype," said Alex Tai, a representative from Virgin Galactic, the new company begun by airline entrepreneur Richard Branson that has licensed SpaceShipOne's technology for $21 million. "There are going to be a lot more [improvements] that are going to make me sleep better," he told New Scientist.

The flight is a landmark even though it is just the first of two required to win the Ansari X Prize. "If you look at it in terms of opening the door to a new era of commercial human spaceflight, you have already succeeded," said George Nield, an official at the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Indeed, officials mentioned plans for future spaceflight prizes - possibly with their own reality TV shows - after the X Prize is won.
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