Pictures of the SpaceShipOne launch, June 21, 2004

Climbing, climbing, climbing...

After takeoff, it took an hour for White Knight to carry SpaceShipOne to the drop-launch altitude of 47,000 feet. As they climbed, contrails became visible as had been promised on Scaled Composites' web page about the event.

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(3072x2048 733K) (500x333 10K) 		White Knight and SpaceShipOne are just a spec in the sky as they circle above Mojave to gain altitude. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(1600x1200 382K) (500x375 4K) 		White Knight flies overhead carrying SpaceShipOne. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(3072x2048 507K) (500x333 3K) 		White Knight and SpaceShipOne cross overhead circling to gain altitude. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 506K) (500x333 3K) 		White Knight and SpaceShipOne cross overhead circling to gain altitude. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 1413K) (500x333 22K) 		Airport crews continue at work during the activity. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(1600x1200 430K) (500x375 27K) 		At the XCOR Aerospace guest viewing area, the media conduct interviews while everyone waits for White Knight to climb carrying SpaceShipOne. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(1600x1200 444K) (500x375 23K) 		The crowd at the XCOR Aerospace guest viewing area waits for White Knight to climb carrying SpaceShipOne. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(1600x1200 428K) (500x375 28K) 		Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut and second man to walk on the Moon. Of the Apollo astronauts, Aldrin has been the biggest supporter of entrepreneurial access to space. He probably wouldn't have missed this for anything. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(1600x1200 412K) (500x375 40K) 		The control tower building sports a sign showing the Mojave Airport's newly-licensed status as a spaceport. The old tower building has one of these signs too. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(1600x1200 409K) (500x375 40K) 		The control tower building sports a sign showing the Mojave Airport's newly-licensed status as a spaceport. The old tower building has one of these signs too. (photo by Dave Masten KG6FNL)
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(3072x2048 1136K) (500x333 20K) 		Ian switched to a zoom lens and took some pictures of the electric-power windmills outside Mojave as a test shot. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 1315K) (500x333 19K) 		Ian switched to a zoom lens and took some pictures of the electric-power windmills outside Mojave as a test shot. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 463K) (500x333 3K) 		As White Knight climbs, it begins to produce contrails. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 441K) (500x333 3K) 		As White Knight climbs, it begins to produce contrails. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 517K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 520K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 512K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 540K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 538K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 540K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 519K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 534K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 494K) (500x333 3K) 		The Starship chase plane makes a contrail of its own. The chase plane takes in-flight video and allows visual inspection of the condition of SpaceShipOne before launch. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 536K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 543K) (500x333 4K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 512K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 502K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 491K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 492K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails overhead make it easy to follow White Knight and SpaceShipOne for a while. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)
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(3072x2048 421K) (500x333 3K) 		The contrails become less visible and then impossible to see as White Knight approaches the morning sun from our point of view at the Mojave Airport. Occasionally we could catch a glimpse when sunlight reflects off the aircraft. (photo by Ian Kluft KO6YQ)

Back up to Stratofox's pictures of SpaceShipOne's first space flight (June 2004)
Back up to Stratofox's pictures of SpaceShipOne's XPrize space flights (Sept and Oct 2004)

Web text copyright 2004 by Stratofox, a Special Interest Group of the South Bay Community Network, Silicon Valley, California
All pictures copyright 2004 by their photographers.