MOJAVE, Calif., July 17, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- The first privately-funded vehicle to reach space
and one of the most innovative crafts ever flown is part of space
history again. A three-inch piece of SpaceShipOne was selected by
the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory (APL) to accompany eight other mementos on the
New Horizons spacecraft's extraordinary journey to
Pluto.
"SpaceShipOne is part of a historic moment in spaceflight, as
more private companies work to bring space access to everyone,"
said Kevin Mickey, president of
Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. "We are
honored to have been recognized for this by having this piece of
SpaceShipOne's pilot seat on New Horizons, which has the potential
to change the way we think about our solar system."
In keeping with the tradition of space mementos, the
SpaceShipOne piece bears a message about its significance. Side one
reads, "To commemorate its historic role in the advancement of
spaceflight, this piece of SpaceShipOne is being flown on another
historic spacecraft: New Horizons. New Horizons is Earth's first
mission to Pluto, the farthest known planet in our solar system."
Side two reads, "SpaceShipOne was Earth's first privately funded
manned spacecraft. SpaceShipOne flew from the United States of America in 2004."
"Congratulations to APL and the incredible team, and thank you
for recognizing SpaceShipOne in this historic voyage," Mickey
said.
On October 4, 2004, SpaceShipOne
rocketed into history, becoming the first private manned spacecraft
to exceed an altitude of 328,000 feet twice in a 14-day period,
winning the $10 million Ansari
X-Prize. The initial prize-qualifying flight, under the controls of
test pilot Mike Melvill, occurred on
Sept. 29, 2004, soaring to 337,500
feet. Just five days later, Oct. 4,
2004, the second flight piloted by Brian Binnie reached 367,442 feet, claiming the
prize.
Cory Bird, current Scaled vice
president and general manager, designed the SpaceShipOne pilot seat
in his role as project engineer during the program's development.
The sleek and space-ready seat, made from preimpregnated carbon
fabric and LTM 45 epoxy, was autoclaved to 60 psi. Before
SpaceShipOne was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum, Scaled founder and aviation legend Burt Rutan had a piece of this seat preserved
for New Horizons.
Founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan,
Scaled Composites is renowned for its innovation in aerospace. For
more information about Scaled Composites, please visit
www.scaled.com.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
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SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation