See the captures from the video I took.
Having learnt at 11.30pm local time that the first private manned space flight was due to take place in Mojave — 130 miles north of LA — the next day at 6.30am, I quickly packed and set the alarm for 3am. It was a bit mad, especially considering I had a 3.30pm flight from LAX to catch, but these opportunities don’t come along very often.
The drive to Mojave was good. It was very scenic watching the sun come up over the desert, mountains silhouetted against the horizon, and I made good time, taking just two hours and arriving in time to join the long queue waiting to get into the airport. I parked at 6.30 on the dot and luckily didn’t miss anything. The crowd was bigger than I expected, I estimate at least 10,000 people had gathered to watch, lining up along the runway. I stood at the end near the hangar.
There was a PA system on which could be heard explanations of what was going on and interveiws with the people involved, from Scaled Composites, XCOR and even Guiness World Records. Interestingly, many of the interviewees remarked that the hardest thing about the project was not the engineering or the technology, but the FAA regulations. The biggest barrier to a non-government run space mission was government. This didn’t come as much of a surprise to me.
Indeed, what was really special about this event was the private-ness of it. Everything I saw that day was brought about by hard-working entrepeneurs.
The events kicked off with the small propellor chase plane taxiing down the runway, followed shortly by White Knight with Spaceship One attached underneath. The atmosphere was electric, with much cheering and whooping from the crowd. Shortly after the chase plane took off and began circling, possibly to double-check wind conditions or maybe just waiting for the pre-flight checks going on below. Next White Knight took off, followed by another strange looking, Rutan designed chase plane, and began its hour long ascent to the height at which Spaceship One is launched (somewhere around 57,000 feet, if I remember correctly).
During this time we waited under the desert sun, watching the aircraft. After about fifteen minutes another chase plane, a tiny jet, took off. We were informed via the PA that this one would be following when Spaceship One detached, and that since it was a faster plane it could wait longer before taking off. After a while it became hard to see the aircraft, especially when they flew close to the sun. But the crowd helped – there were always people looking and pointing in the right direction and I could see one absurdly large telephoto lens that was constantly trained into the sky, providing a useful cue. When the craft disappeared from view completely, I became concerned that I wouldn’t be able to see the launch, but I needn’t have worried.
The launch took place not far (but high above) the airport. There was a flash and a bright streak across the sky, met with great appreciation from the crowd. It was fantastic to see; up there was 60-year-old test pilot — no, astronaut — Mike Melville, in a tiny craft, flying into space!
Once the rocket burn was over, the craft could not be seen. Everyone waited excitedly trying to spot its approach. I heard some people saying that they had heard a sonic boom, but, much like the earthquake that my colleages in Newport Beach felt earlier in the week, I detected nothing. Then there was a sparkle in the sky, and then all four vehicles could be made out. Spaceship One glided in and touched down. Mike was safely back on the ground.
Now much more nimble (for its lightened load) White Knight did a fly by, turning sharply away from the crowd with an immense roar from its engines. After this I decided I had to head for the exit — I would have loved to have stayed to soak up the atmosphere for longer, but unfortunately there was a plane to catch and I didn’t want to get involved with the thousands of cars all trying to leave at the same time. As I walked back to my car, I turned round just in time to see, but not to photograph, a formation flyby by the remaining aircraft.
It had been a wonderful couple of hours in Mojave, and now I headed across the desert for home.
See Dale Amon’s inside coverage over at Samizdata (in several separate articles, so keep clicking on the next article link). Don’t miss the one about the importance of this event and the one with some clarification of things reported in the media.
Great pics, Rob! Glad you were able to view this historic event. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Have a safe flight home.
Wow. That’s an amazing experience. You’ll be able to tell you grandchildren you were there.
I should have seen the first ever shuttle launch but it was delayed and we had to go home before the it launched a few days later.