Page 8 - Aerotech News and Review, June 25, 2021

Seventeen Years Ago:

SpaceShipOne, Mike Melvill made history, first private manned mission to space

by Cathy Hansen An interesting side story of this was the key to the success of the whole
special to Aerotech News flight was Mike wanted to illustrate program. It’s a carefree re-entry meth-
what weightlessness looked like to od that Burt invented himself and he
Just a few days ago, I sat in everyone. The night before the flight, was sure correct about that. It worked
Voyager Restaurant talking to Mike he stopped in at the local AM-PM flawlessly every time.”
Melvill about his historic flight in mini-market and bought a small bag of It was wonderful to see Sally run up
SpaceShipOne, 17 years ago. M&Ms. He poured them into a pocket to Mike as he exited SpaceShipOne.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said of his flightsuit, but didn’t tell anyone, They have a beautiful and everlast-
Melvill. “All of a sudden I was seeing as he knew he would be told that he ing love for one another that is ex-
the stars in a black sky. It happened in couldn’t release them inside the space traordinary. He was wearing the lucky
an instant.” ship. horseshoe that she had pinned onto his
Melvill is most famous for his flight Of course, during all of the excite- flightsuit before the takeoff that morn-
test work at Scaled Composites with ment of the takeoff, release from the ing. He had the horseshoe pin designed
SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Ru- mothership, White Knight One, the for Sally in 1961 with their names in-
tan. ignition of the rocket motor and the scribed on it.
Mike Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne trying to get the spacecraft under con-
on its first flight past the edge of space, trol, he had forgotten about the M&Ms, Immigration from South Africa
(100 kilometers or 62 miles) Flight until he reached apogee. It was quiet, Melvill moved from South Africa to
15P, becoming the first commercial the sky was black, the Earth was beau- England in 1960 and married his wife,
astronaut and the 434th person to go tiful to look down on, and as he was Sally, in Scotland in 1961. Sally was
into space. taking photos, he remembered that he 17 and Mike was 19 when they eloped.
SpaceShipOne, a Paul G. Allen proj- Courtesy photograph had placed the M&Ms in his shoulder They immigrated to the United States
ect with Scaled Composites, launched From left: Cathy Hansen, Diane Barney and Mike Melvill at Voyager pocket. in 1967 and settled in Indiana.
the first private manned vehicle beyond Restaurant at Plane Crazy Saturday June 19, 2021. Plane Crazy Saturday He unzipped the pocket and got In 1969, Mike earned his pilot’s li-
is a monthly event at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
the Earth’s atmosphere. The success- a handful of M&Ms and let them go cense and in 1974 he purchased a set of
ful launch demonstrated that the final right in front of his face and they just VariViggen plans.
frontier was opened up to private en- to the right and banking 180-degrees. stable attitude without significant an- stayed there. He was amazed at them This unique plane was designed by
terprise. He was approaching Mach 1 and was gular rates was complete well before just floating there. In a video he said, a man named Burt Rutan. Mike said
Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites 30 miles off course, as the spacecraft the ship reached apogee (337,600 feet). “It was just a weird feeling, because if that he had no idea who Burt Rutan
founder and CEO at the time said, “Our completed 29 rolls streaking upwards That gave Mike time to relax, note his you do that here they just fall on the was when he bought this set of aircraft
success proves without question that into space and the black sky. He had peak altitude, and then pick up a digital ground.” plans, but he was the first individual
manned space flight does not require lost stick and rudder control, as he high-resolution camera and take some He pushed them around to see what to complete one of these aircraft, with
mammoth government expenditures.” went faster than the speed of sound, great photos out the windows.”
Rutan declared. “It can be done by a and shock waves diminished the use The enormous crowd on the ground
small company operating with limited of the control surfaces. didn’t realize he was rolling as he went
resources and a few dozen dedicated Melvill tried to correct the condi- through the sound barrier and a large
employees.” tion but the controls wouldn’t respond boom was heard. Everyone cheered
It was not a typical smooth flight with aerodynamic flight controls, so and I remember Mike’s wife, Sally,
— “Very rough ride initially, a lot he decided to wait. Burt Rutan said yelling, “Go Michael, go!” Maj. Gen.
of pitching,” Mike told Doug Shane, later, “Mike feathered the boom-tail in Doug Pearson, then commander of
Mission Control Director. As the rocket space, before using the reaction con- the Air Force Flight Test Center at
motor was burning, wind shear moved trol system thrusters (RCS) to damp Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., made
SpaceShipOne 90-degrees to the left the roll rate. When he finally started to a quick phone call to approve Space-
and Mike compensated the move by damp the rates he did so successfully ShipOne breaking into Edwards’s air
trimming the spacecraft 90-degrees and promptly. The RCS damping, to a space. Courtesy photograph

would happen and they floated all help from his wife Sally and both of
around. Mike said, “I reached into my his boys. Sally got her pilot’s license in
pocket and threw out another hand- 1977, and they both hopped into their
ful and then went on about my busi- newly completed homemade aircraft,
ness.” You can watch the Youtube and flew it from Anderson, Ind., to
video at: https://www.youtube.com/ Mojave, Calif., where Burt Rutan had
watch?v=AAAHcjfe-r0 a small company, called The Rutan
Dignitaries attending the event in- Aircraft Factory.
cluded General Pearson, U.S. Repre- Burt had built his own prototype
sentative Dana Rohrabacher, and the VariViggen, but had not seen another
China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center, like it until he saw Mike and Sally’s.
Adm. David Venlet, then commander Burt asked to fly it, and after he had
of Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons done so, offered both Sally and Mike a
Division at China Lake, former astro- job at his company nearly 2000 miles
naut Buzz Aldrin, William Shatner of from where they lived.
Star Trek fame and Konrad Dannen- They accepted his offer, sold their
berg, one of Werner Von Braun’s lead home in Indiana, and set off in two cars
scientists on this country’s original to drive to the High Desert in Califor-
space development effort. nia. Mojave is located only 15 miles
“The re-entry is very exciting,” said from Edwards Air force base, which
Mike. He described Burt Rutan’s in- was and is the flight testing hub in the
genious ‘feather’ invention by saying, U.S. for the U.S. Air Force.
“We bend the feather on the tail up Mike then returned to Indiana with
70-degrees to the fuselage. So, rather his youngest son Keith, and together
than coming into the atmosphere nose they flew the VariViggen across the
down, like the space shuttle, we bend country to Mojave.
the feather up and re-enter with the Mike and Sally worked for Burt
fuselage and the wing flat to the at- Rutan for 32 years and Mike became
mosphere, so we have an enormous the test pilot for all of the different air-
amount of drag, which slows it down craft Burt designed over the years. He
very quickly at very high altitude. We was vice president/general manager of
Courtesy photograph don’t get the high heat buildup that we Scaled Composites and chief test pilot
Mike Melvill following his historic flight into space. would if we came in nose first and that before his retirement in 2007.

Aerotech News and Review
8 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview June 25, 2021