Space news from slashdot:
knovis writes "The Ansari X Prize is being attempted at this moment: 9:30am EST. Bert Rutan and Paul Allen's Scaled Composites is preparing to make the first of 2 launches necessary. For the uninitiated, the X-Prize is a $10M prize available to the first entirely privately funded organization that creates a vehicle that travels to 100km above the earth's surface (low earth orbit) twice within 2 weeks. IIRC, SpaceShipOne is planning 3 flights for that 2 week period, for safety. Best of luck to Private Spaceflight. Did anyone else notice that Virgin Galactic has just been launched?" Project Zen writes "MSNBC has an article about how the seats won't be filled with people but mementos of the crew." Several readers sent links to CNN's story on the flight, and space.com's continuing coverage, including by webcam; NASA TV also has an eye on the launch. (Watch this space for updates.) Update: 09/29 15:57 GMT by T: Disconnect writes "As reported all over, SpaceShipOne successfully flew its first X-Prize flight attempt. As of now (11:45:40EST) the officials have not cleared the flight as successful, but it's looking good."I'm tremendously excited about SpaceShipOne and the possibilities it provides. I still support NASA and their missions back to the Moon (and to Mars), and deep space exploration. But if the private exploration of space can be done concurrently with government exploration, with the possibility that it could match government's achievements in a smaller space of time (thereby saving us some tax dollars), that is something to get really excited about. I never thought such a thing would be possible - that I could be living in the age of private space exploration. If I had $200,000 to burn (what Virgin Galactic is proposing for an orbital tour) I'd jump on a ship in a heartbeat. According to the pilot, the view from orbit is breathtaking, a religious experience. How about you? More about the space program under the "Too Close To The Sun" post.
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