I’ll be in a short segment of Warren Olney’s “To The Point” at 2PM EDT, discussing the implications of the X-Prize.

[Update at 2:30]

It went very well. Warren (who is an excellent interviewer) just wanted a five-minute update on how the flight went, and the implications for the future of space. It should be available for streaming sometime today, and it will be rebroadcast in LA on KCRW at 1 PM Pacific.

My former co-worker at Rotary Rocket, Brian Binnie, will be piloting today’s (hopefully) prize-winning flight.

[Update a couple minutes later]

After a little surfing, my recommendation is to watch on MSNBC if you get it. Intead of John Pike, they’ve got Jim Oberg to provide commentary.

[Update a couple more minutes later]

Oops. He just misspoke, saying that the FAA would have to certify the spaceship that Burt builds for Branson. Not under the current regulatory regime. All they will have to do is get a launch license.

[Another update]

I switched back to Fox, where Bridget Quinn was interviewing Walt Cunningham. When she asked him if this meant that we’d be able to go into space, he splashed cold water on the idea, saying that maybe her “children’s children” would do it. He then went on to explain that what Branson wanted to do would be much more expensive, because SpaceShipOne didn’t have all the redundant systems that “safety regulators” would require.

Grrrrr…

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, since there are no “safety regulators” when it comes to passenger spaceflight. The FAA is concerned only with third-party (uninvolved people on the ground) not first or second parties. As I said, there is currently no such thing as certification for such vehicles–only launch licensing, and that is a process that doesn’t oversee passenger safety.

[Update after launch]

Well, that was a lot smoother than the first two. I don’t know if Brian is a better pilot, or if he was on the lookout for things based on his discussions with Mike Melvill.

Shortly after apogee, someone said that he’s won the prize.

Not yet. He has to land safely first…

[Update at 11:10 or so]

OK, the nosewheel just touched down. The prize is won, once they verify the altitude, which if it holds up at 368,00 feet will be a new altitude record, beating the previous one long held by the X-15 by almost three miles.

Dale Amon (who just called me to inform me of that) has been covering this as well.

On this date, forty-seven years ago, from the windy steppes of Kazakhstan, a missile, originally designed to deliver a deadly warhead, sundered the skies. But its payload was not a bomb, but a basketball-sized sphere of metal with transponders. Its destination was not another territory on earth, but the semi-permanent freefall of outer space. It was the first object since the dawn of time, crafted by humans, to enter orbit around our planet. It was the beginning of the space age.

As I write these words, it’s still dark in Mojave, California. If it’s a typical night there, the winds are high, even howling, rattling the rafters of the airport hangars, many of which were built years before that first satellite launch. But in an hour or so, the rising sun will slowly illuminate the desert, and the winds will die down. A crowd will be gathered to watch an ungainly-looking aircraft, resembling mating birds or insects, as it taxis out to challenge the heavens for the second time within less than a week.

If today’s flight is successful, and the prize is won, many may look back on this anniversary as a dual one. October 4th will not only be commemorated as the day that the old space age began, but perhaps, the new one as well.

Unfortunately, not me. Clark Lindsey is going, though, for tomorrow’s historic flight. Here’s hoping he finds an internet connection.

I’ll have to watch on teevee again (which, truth be told, actually provides a better view of the flight than being there does). Still, I’d like to be in attendance, but now that I’m in Florida, it’s a lot harder to justify a cross-country trip for it than a two-hour drive up from LA.