Man, talk about cutting it close! I hadn't heard about the engine cutting out early. They'll need to fix that if they hope to break 100 kilometers with the full up weight of 3 people. I was expecting this flight to go between 65 and 70 miles high since it was lighter than the all up mission.

That had to be one hell of a ride, hitting something like Mach 3 straight up and under manual control. Mike Melville has had a strong relationship with Burt Rutan dating back to when Melville built a VariViggen (Burt's first homebuilt design on his own). They obviously trust each other explicitly and with good cause.

Burt, my man, you've done it once again! Every time you come up with something spectacular, it's hard to see how you can top it. Every time, you seem to do so effortlessly. I gotta give a lot of respect to Paul Allen who put up the money without strings attached.