[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H8376-H8377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATING MOJAVE AEROSPACE VENTURE FOR WINNING THE ANSARI X PRIZE
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the resolution (H. Res. 820) to congratulate Mojave Aerospace
Ventures for winning the privately funded $10,000,000 Ansari X Prize
and commend the X Prize Foundation for spurring this achievement, as
amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 820
Whereas the Ansari X Prize competition was created to
promote the emerging commercial space transportation industry
and inspire a new generation of explorers by accelerating the
development of low-cost space launch vehicles for space
exploration, tourism, science, and commerce;
Whereas the X Prize Foundation, headed by space
entrepreneur Dr. Peter Diamandis, offered a $10,000,000 prize
to the first contestant to privately finance, develop, and
launch a spaceship capable of carrying 3 people to 100
kilometers (62.5 miles) above the Earth, returning safely to
Earth, and repeating the launch with the same ship within 2
weeks;
Whereas the Ansari X Prize inspired 26 teams from 7 nations
to invest their private funds and personal toil in pursuit of
the dream of private space flight;
Whereas Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by aviation pioneer
Burt Rutan and software pioneer Paul Allen, designed and
developed SpaceShipOne, the winning entry in the Ansari X
Prize competition;
Whereas on June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike
Melvill, accomplished the first privately funded suborbital
flight into space in the skies above Mojave, California;
Whereas on September 29, 2004, SpaceShipOne, once again
piloted by Mike Melvill, successfully completed the first of
2 suborbital flights in pursuit of the Ansari X Prize
competition, flying to an altitude of 337,600 feet (102.9
km); and
Whereas on October 4, 2004, SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian
Binnie, successfully completed the second of 2 suborbital
flights in pursuit of the Ansari X Prize less than one week
later, flying to an altitude of 368,000 feet (112.2 km), and
thereby winning the Ansari X Prize competition: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) congratulates Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by Burt
Rutan and Paul Allen, for winning the privately funded
$10,000,000 Ansari X Prize and inspiring the next generation
of space explorers to even greater heights;
(2) commends the pilots of SpaceShipOne for their skill and
bravery; and
(3) commends the founders of, contributors to, and
management of the X Prize Foundation for spurring this
achievement.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
General Leave
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 820.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, there are two kind of frontiers. There are physical
frontiers: uncharted land, unseen depths of oceans, unexplored space.
And then there are frontiers of imagination: frontiers that require us
to think a new way, to have a vision beyond what others see, to
question assumptions about what is technologically possible.
Today, we honor Mojave Aerospace Ventures' SpaceShipOne, the winner
of the X Prize for traversing this second kind of frontier.
Suborbital space is not a new destination. Brian Binnie and Mike
Melvill, the pilots of SpaceShipOne, did not fly higher, farther or
longer than the astronauts who came before them, yet Brian and Mike,
together with SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan and sponsor Paul Allen,
have nonetheless crossed a critical frontier. They have accepted and
exceeded the X Prize Foundation's challenge, proving that commercial
space transportation is viable and that space and its exploration and
utilization will not be the sole arena of government, but is also open
to the private sector and to private individuals and private companies.
The achievement of Mojave Aerospace will no doubt spur more
entrepreneurial space ventures and inspire other dreamers to become
doers.
Burt Rutan's design for SpaceShipOne has been said to echo that of
the X-15, an experimental Cold War rocket plane like SpaceShipOne. It
was launched in flight from a larger aircraft. It is not only Burt
Rutan's elegant design, however, that reminds us of another time. The
spirit of his team and the X Prize competition recalls the spirit of
the early years of our Nation's space race. It recalls the Charles
Lindbergh trans-Atlantic flight which was also the result of a prize
that was offered for the first accomplishment. That accomplishment was,
of course, the first nonstop trip from New York to Paris.
{time} 0130
It also reminds us of Chuck Yeager, and others like Chuck Yeager, who
broke the records of the sound barrier and other records in flight. It
reminds us of these other moments when these other barriers were broken
and that new opportunities were created in the accomplishment.
This spirit of exploration, this drive to push the limits of
technology and endurance, is a signature of the American experience;
that human flight into space, we now can say, is no longer the arena
only of government and only the purview of companies that are directly
financed by government, but now is open to private individuals and
private companies and private enterprise and individual enterprise.
The X Prize awakens us to this spirit with a new generation of
explorers. It awakens the spirit in students who will study science and
math and engineering, as well as those who have been inspired toward
bold innovations in other fields. Like Melvill, Binnie and Rutan, and
the Mojave Aerospace Ventures, their team, these new explorers, will
inspire the dreamers and give them courage and determination to turn
their dreams into reality.
Today, we honor the winners of the X Prize for their victory and for
completing the first privately funded, human, suborbital space flight.
We also commend the X Prize Foundation and the 25 other teams who vied
for the prize. We look forward to watching commercial space
transportation to continue to develop, engaging new investors and
engineers, scientists and pilots in the business of exploration.
This X Prize concept of offering a reward for an achievement, a
technological achievement, is not a time that
[[Page H8377]]
is past. What we have seen, through this accomplishment by Mojave
Aerospace, is that this may be a vehicle to achieve new goals in space,
and we will be looking into this. Hopefully, it will encourage further
achievements that will help the United States and all of humankind set
new records and push the frontiers.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the resolution by the chairman of the
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics congratulating the winners of the
Ansari X Prize on their intrepid voyages to the edge of space.
A century ago, as Orville Wright dropped down to the sand at Kitty
Hawk after his 12-second flight into history, the impact of aviation on
the world was only dimly seen. Yet, today, we take for granted that the
other side of the world is only a mere few hours from our front door.
Now, we honor the next Orville and Wilbur, Mike Melvill and Brian
Binnie, pilots of SpaceShipOne's prize-winning flights.
In the space of a week, they have shown us all a new opportunity. If
you are not satisfied with reading about space, well, the day is not
far off when you can go there yourself.
SpaceShipOne did not get very far into space, but then, neither did
Alan Shepard on his first Mercury flight. So let us not forget, though,
that Alan Shepard later made it to the moon.
The resolution before the House also honors Burt Rutan, the
pioneering designer at the head of Mojave Aerospace Ventures. Some 40
airplanes share Rutan's distinctive designs, and if one visits the
National Air and Space Museum here on the mall, they can see his
Voyager, which flew around the world nonstop in 1986.
That it was Rutan who broke the barrier of affordable access to space
probably does not surprise many in the aviation fraternity, but as Tom
Wolfe so memorably put it in The Right Stuff, ``No bucks, no Buck
Rogers.''
Without Paul Allen's willingness to commit real money, SpaceShipOne
might still be little more than scribbles on a napkin in a filing
cabinet. Sometimes we have to look beyond the business case.
There is something about a contest that seems to inspire great deeds.
We owe a great deal to Dr. Peter Diamandis, president of the Ansari X
Prize Foundation. He set the goal that fired the imaginations of those
eager to open space to the rest of us. The House is right to include
him in our congratulations.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join the gentleman from California
in honoring the achievements of the Ansari X Prize winners and
recommend that the House approve this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. I have no other requests to speak, and I have just one last
thought.
I believe that the investor invested $26 million in this project. We
have no doubt that, if this project was just a government-funded
project, that it probably would have been in the hundreds of millions
of dollars. We will be looking at this X Prize concept of encouraging
the private sector to try to achieve specific goals that would be
worthy of such prizes and would also be very, very helpful to our whole
technological efforts of our country.
So we will be looking at this as a vehicle in the future, and I am
looking forward to working with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson)
and people on both sides of the aisle, whose goal it is to make sure
that America remains the leader in space. This is a great achievement
today. We congratulate all those who are involved with SpaceShipOne.
Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 820,
which commends Mojave Aerospace Ventures and their great success
capturing the Ansari X Prize on Monday, October 4. I am proud to
represent Burt Rutan and his team based in Mojave, California, and it
has been a great pleasure to watch their success.
The first private effort to enter space has succeeded. As part of a
competition stimulating private enterprise in an area that formerly was
totally government-controlled, the Ansari X Prize Foundation and the
collaborators of Mojave Aerospace Ventures have proven that private
organizations can achieve anything they put their minds to. The sky is
no longer the limit.
Although almost 80 years apart, the X Prize is similar to the reward
that in part led Charles Lindbergh to fly across the Atlantic in 1927.
That achievement sparked the initial age of commercial aviation, and
this achievement truly begins the era of commercial space aviation.
I congratulate Burt Rutan, pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, all
the employees of Scaled Composites, and all those community volunteers
who worked tirelessly to prepare for this event at the Mojave
Spaceport. In recent days they have provided us with an exciting
glimpse of the future, and I look forward to their next endeavors.
Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, today, I wish to extend to Paul
Allen and the entire SpaceShipOne team my heartfelt congratulations on
their huge achievement. Since Orville and Wilbur Wright first took to
the skies, mankind has consistently dreamed of loftier goals and
continued to push the edge in manned flight, both commercially and
through government endeavors. On October 4, the entire SpaceShipOne
team expanded man's dream of commercial flight into space. While a
noble achievement, this is but the first step in a long process towards
the dream of many on Earth to fly to the reaches of outer space. Some
day this dream will be a reality and it is because of the efforts and
skills of people like those at Scaled Composites and the visionaries
like Paul Allen that will make this dream a reality.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and commend
Mr. Paul Allen, Mr. Burt Rutan and all the men and women of Mojave
Aerospace Ventures on winning the Ansari X Prize competition.
On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first
sustained, controlled, powered flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, NC.
Now, a little over a century later Mojave Aerospace Ventures has
followed in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers by designing, building
and successfully flying the world's first privately funded spacecraft.
Mr. Speaker, the private support of Paul Allen, for the Mojave
Aerospace Ventures was critical in reaching this historical milestone.
This accomplishment exemplifies the ingenuity on which our Nation was
founded and developed. Mr. Allen has shown that the entrepreneurial
spirit which has made America great is alive and well and will continue
towards even greater achievements in the future.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida). The
question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr.
Rohrabacher) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution, H. Res. 820, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was
agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________