Mike Melvill has balls-of-brass to be flying it (I envy him). Aerodynamics at Mach 3.2 are different from subsonic... A big problem with flying at such high speeds is the enormous dynamic pressure . Anything sticking out into the free stream could experience tons of force. Should something go wrong, the pilot could get turned into protoplasmic jelly before the nerve impulses reach his brain (not a bad way to die). Atmospheric entry from Low Earth Orbit Mach numbers are greater than Mach 25. SpaceShipOne is not a real space craft but still a very interesting example of advanced aeronautical engineering. I hope Burt Rutan is successful in winning the X prize and no one gets killed

That way if the guy gets killed, well it's not like he had that much more time coming anyway.

-p (Whoops! Just realized I'm within several years of that demographic myself)