SpaceShipOne
Surpasses 100 Km Altitude on First X-Prize Flight

September
29, 2004: At
8:13 this morning PDT, SpaceShipOne (SS1) coasted above
the 100 km altitude point and successfully completed
the first of two X-Prize flights. The peak altitude
reached was 337,500 ft. The motor was shut down when
the pilot, Mike Melvill, noted that his altitude predictor
exceeded the required 100 km mark. The motor burn lasted
77 seconds – 1 second longer than on the June
21st flight. Melvill was prepared to burn the motor
up to 89 seconds, which indicates significant additional
performance remains in SS1.
Update:
Burt
clarifies the rolling motion during ascent.
Update:
X-Prize Flight #1 preliminary altitude data from multiple
sources:

High Quality 3 minute video of flight available in
our video
section.
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