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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Good evening.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>This is the week for a flight to space by a civilian company.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Will the X-Prize ring be grasped from the edge of space? - LRK -</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------------------------------------------</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/">http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>snip</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>First X-Prize flight scheduled for September 29, 2004</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>For information about the X-Prize flights (press inquiries, news updates,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>ticket information, etc.) please visit the Ansari X-Prize website.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://web1-xprize.primary.net/launch.php">http://web1-xprize.primary.net/launch.php</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>snip</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>SpaceShipOne Makes History:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>First Private Manned Mission to Space</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>"Mojave, CA: The world witnessed the dawn of a new space age today, as</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and Scaled Composites launched the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>first private manned vehicle beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The successful</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>launch demonstrated that the final frontier is now open to private</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>enterprise."</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> (READ MORE) <A HREF="http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/062104-2.htm">http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/062104-2.htm</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> Multimedia:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> * Videos <A HREF="http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/video.htm">http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/video.htm</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> * Photos <A HREF="http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/gallery/june21">http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/gallery/june21</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------------------------------------------</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>We drove by on our way to Las Vegas not long ago.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Just a road across the desert.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Highway 58 wraps around the area.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>You can see some of the airplane companies from the road, both alive and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>dead.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Hard to think this could be the next SpacePort. - LRK -</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> ANSARI X PRIZE: "Launch Schedule</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>EVENT TICKETS AND PARKING PASSES AVAILABLE ONSITE! SEE YOU IN MOJAVE!</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>September 29th launch currently scheduled for approximately 6:00 A.M. P.S.T.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.mojaveairport.com/">http://www.mojaveairport.com/</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Address: Mojave Airport</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>1434 Flight Line Mojave, CA 93501</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=US&addtohistory=&s">http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=US&addtohistory=&s</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>earchtab=address&searchtype=address&address=1434+Flight+Line&city=Mojave&sta</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>te=CA&zipcode=93501&search=++Search++</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Scaled Composites Inc: 661-824-4541</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>1624 Flight Line # 78 Mojave, CA 93501, US</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&lati">http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&lati</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>tude=RcogHLJWsnw%3d&longitude=ugCrZeXl9tOcrLg9nikbRg%3d%3d&name=Scaled%20Com</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>posites%20Inc&countryid=250&country=US&address=1624%20Flight%20Line%20%23%20</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>78&city=Mojave&state=CA&zipcode=93501&phone=661%2d824%2d4541&cat=Scaled%20Co</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>mposites&spurl=0&searchtype=GenSearch</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.co.kern.ca.us/gsd/kgov/internettv.asp">http://www.co.kern.ca.us/gsd/kgov/internettv.asp</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Internet Television (KGOV-Live)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>You can watch the current KGOV broadcast from your computer, via a feature</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>called KGOV-Live. In order to use KGOV-Live, you must first install RealOne</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Player version 8 or higher on your computer.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Larry Russell Kellogg</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.larryrussellkellogg.net/index.html">http://www.larryrussellkellogg.net/index.html</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.larryrussellkellogg.net/links.html">http://www.larryrussellkellogg.net/links.html</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/">http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>==============================================================</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/world/9762570.htm">http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/world/9762570.htm</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2> Posted on Sun, Sep. 26, 2004</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>'A tunnel to the moon'</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Next step to future will be taken in desert outpost</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>By BOB KEEFE</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>COX NEWS SERVICE</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>MOJAVE, Calif. - The Mojave Airport is an unassuming collection of old</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>runways and dusty tin buildings. Planes and parts of planes - fighter jets,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>crop dusters, outdated commercial airliners - sit like ghosts in a desert</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>graveyard.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The little airport has no regular passenger traffic, but it's becoming known</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>as the hub for space travel's future.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>On Wednesday, the first commercial rocket ever piloted by a non-military</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>astronaut is scheduled to take a second brief trip from Mojave to beyond the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Earth's atmosphere.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>SpaceShipOne, as it's called, made its maiden voyage to the stars from here</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>in June, helping reignite a worldwide interest in private space travel that</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>has been compared to beginning of commercial flight.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Rocket companies abound</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>But the company that built SpaceShipOne, Scaled Composites Inc., is only one</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>of several rocket designers here shooting for the stars.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Not far from Scaled Composites is Xcor Aerospace Inc., which is building</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>rocket engines it hopes to sell to commercial space companies. Also nearby</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>is Interorbital Systems, which is offering promotional $250,000 tickets for</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>a week in space orbit, even though its first ship isn't expected to be</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>complete before 2006. Space Launch Corp., meanwhile, is building a rocket</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>plane that could be used to launch small satellites.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>In all, nine companies are working on space-related projects at Mojave,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>according to airport officials.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Those who have been to the airport known to pilots as "Mojo" say it really</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>does have a lot going for it.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>"You never expect by looking at it that this is where the next space age is</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>being born, but it is," said George Whitesides, executive director of the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>National Space Society, a Washington, D.C. group that promotes civilian</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>space travel. "It's a very special place that I think history is going to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>remember."</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>What makes the 1940s-era former naval air station 100 miles north of Los</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Angeles the place to be is "location, location, location," said airport</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>manager Stuart Witt, echoing the old real estate mantra.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Perfect weather for flying</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Edwards Air Force Base, where military flight testing has its roots, is a</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>next-door neighbor. China Lake, where the Navy does bombing training, is not</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>far away. Hundred-degree heat and little rainfall have limited residential</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>development, but make for great conditions for flying.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>With airspace that's restricted from regular air traffic because of military</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>flights nearby, Mojave has what Witt calls "a tunnel to the moon" where</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>commercial rocket companies are free to try creating the next space</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>jetliner.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Already a hot spot for civilian flight testing, Mojave in June was</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as the nation's first</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>inland "spaceport." The designation could help make it easier for companies</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>to launch rocket ships and someday send passengers into space.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The people behind Mojave's commercial space projects are an eclectic</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>collection of space cowboys and colorful characters. Some are hard and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>weathered like the desert itself, while others are out-of-town billionaires</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>who have more money than they can ever spend.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>SpaceShipOne's financier, for instance is Paul Allen, a Microsoft Corp.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>co-founder who can travel to Mojave from his Seattle-area home on any of his</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>personal collection of airplanes. The rocket ship's creator is legendary</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>airplane designer and engineer Burt Rutan.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Interorbital Systems, on the other hand, is run by a husband-and-wife team</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>who are trying to pay the bills by selling, along with the advance tickets</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>to space, NASCAR-style ads on rocket ships and spacesuits and annual</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>memberships in the Pacific Rocket Society.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>$10 million at stake</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Like Scaled Composites, some of the companies at Mojave are planning to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>compete for the biggest prize in commercial space rocketry.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Sponsors of the Ansari X Prize promise $10 million to the owner of the first</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>private spaceship capable of launching three people into suborbital flight</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>on two consecutive flights within two weeks.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The prize, created in an effort to jump-start commercial space travel, is</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>modeled after aviation prizes such as the $25,000 competition that led to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Charles Lindbergh's 1927 historic transatlantic flight in the "Spirit of St.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Louis."</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Mojave Airport's Voyager Restaurant is named after another record-setting</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>airplane, built by Burt Rutan and flown by his brother Dick and co-pilot</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Jeana Yeager around the world in 1986. The nine-day trip was the first ever</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>nonstop flight around the world without refueling.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Today at the Voyager, Mojave's space junkies are talking shop over chicken</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>wings and beer while TVs play videos of the historic flight. They bad-mouth</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>NASA for what they say is overspending for too few accomplishments, and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>dream of a world when commercial space flight is as common as commercial air</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>travel is today.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>"There's always space talk about who's doing what and who's going to fly the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>next mission," said Dick Rutan, who in addition to helping his brother also</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>has worked as a test pilot for Xcor and other companies.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>"It's awful interesting being real close to all of this, but it's also fun</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>to sit back and hear all the pronouncements versus (seeing) all the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>reality," he said.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>There have been flops at Mojave, and almost certainly there will be more.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Rotary Rocket Co., for instance, tried to build a pear-shaped rocket at</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Mojave that would initially be lifted with a helicopter-style rotor before</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>blasting off into space.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>But the company ran out of money for its Roton rocket ship. Two years ago,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Xcor acquired much of its assets and technology.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Failures, though, are part of the lore and nature of flight. What's</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>important, almost anyone at Mojave will tell you, is that the spirit of</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>flight - and now space travel - lives on despite the occasional flop.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>"It's the 'Field of Dreams' concept," said airport manager Whitt. "What</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>everybody here shares in common is the attitude that it's OK to think big</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>and take risks."</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--------------------------------------------------------------</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>© 2004 The Sun Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.sunherald.com">http://www.sunherald.com</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>==============================================================</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>If you know of someone that would like to look up with you, and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>join the lunar-update list, have them send an e-mail to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>majordomo@altair.com.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>In the body of their message,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>put: subscribe lunar-update</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>or just have them drop me</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>a line and I will add them.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="mailto:larry.kellogg@sbcglobal.net">mailto:larry.kellogg@sbcglobal.net</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Larry</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/">http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/</A></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>-</FONT>
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