Astronaut Mike Fincke, who is living and working on board the International Space Station, conveyed his congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team during space-to-ground communications today.
“Fantastic!” Fincke said upon hearing the news that test pilot Mike Melvill had successfully completed the first privately funded suborbital human space flight. “We were wishing them the best of luck. We’re all in the space business together, helping mankind get off the planet and explore the stars.”
“We’re really proud of them, and please, if possible, extend to them our happiest congratulations,” he said to the flight controllers in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.