NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe congratulated the SpaceShipOne team on the second successful flight of a human on a private spacecraft. Administrator O’Keefe was in the Mojave Desert, Calif., today to watch SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill take off and safely land.
“Burt Rutan and Paul Allen and the rest of the team are great examples of the kind of determination and creativity that is helping America achieve its exploration goals,” Administrator O’Keefe said. “We at NASA applaud their terrific achievement today, as well as the spirit of competition behind the Ansari X Prize.We wish Mike continued safe travels to space,” he said.
From the orbiting International Space Station, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke took note of the SpaceShipOne flight. “Well, it was nice that [cosmonaut] Gennady [Padalka] and I weren’t the only two humans off the planet, even if it was only for a little while,” he said during space-to-ground transmissions today. “So, good job and congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team!”