Burt Rutan’s Reflections on SpaceShip One, 10 years ago

Burt Rutan holding court… a masterful designer of 74 aircraft… but SpaceShip One was his favorite.

“It wasn’t an accomplishment of building a spaceship. It was an accomplishment of building a manned space program.”

Rutan grew teary-eyed as he recalled the tension that the SpaceShipOne team felt when test pilot Mike Melvill prepared to make the first flight into space in 2004: “I could tell that this was not a normal thing. I looked at him, and I said to him, ‘Mike, it’s just an airplane. It’s not a spaceship.’ And I got the feeling that helped settle him a little bit.”

And a new admission: “I had to lie to my employees and tell them that I thought it could be done.” (the room went silent)

We also learned of a peculiar requirement to win the X-Prize; the pilot had to live 24 hours post-flight. When asked if he was sheltered and coddled after his flight, Melvill relayed “After the flight, the tradition is to ride on top of the spacecraft as it is pulled about on the runway. There are two hooks to hang on to up there, and they are well greased. I was worried that I would fall off.”

Rutan: “I was sitting in the back of the pickup with nothing but two billionaires to hang on to. I was more worried about them.”

Full video of the X-Prize Anniversary panel. Far right is SpaceShipOne pilot Binnie and to his left is Chuck Beames, President of Vulcan Aerospace. Far left is Anousheh Ansari, the first female Private Space Explorer, and sponsor of the first X-prize.