In article , Roger Halstead says...

Although most would not consider a $20 million project grass roots it
was exactly that. Carbon fiber and resin lay-ups that were easily
fixable. Think what would have happened in NASA had they broken the
gear off.

First there would have to be a board of inquiry and meetings to discuss the gear
breaking .Then a survey would be done to get opinions of why it broke, next the
design teams would come up with a fix .Then Congress would investigate and try
to place blame on somebody. Next Rev Al would show up yelling that the program
is racist because the entire machine is white. Bids would be let out ,a
committee would study the bids,The fiscial division would let a contract and the
gear would be replaced. That is after OSHA ,EPA and the rest inspected the
landing site to check for danger to wildlife. Total time for the project 1 1/2
years. Rutan and crew one week .


The flight of SpaceShipOne is the opening of the door to space flight
for industry and the world in a way that could never be approached by
the governments of the world.

You got that right .When did Government ever do anything better then the private
sector? Perhaps with the exception of wars?


To me it now makes going to the other planets much more of a
possibility but how long before "Protect the Planets" groups emerge?

Don't worry they will if there are tree huggers it won't be long before the
first "planet huggers" show up :-)


I say it's a fantastic job well done!

So say us all!!

Chuck (former NASA geek) S