According to reports in Wired News and MSNBC. It turns out the problems on last month's flight weren't as serious as they first appeared.

As the craft climbed to a space-qualifying altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) on June 21, it suffered an unexpected roll as well as what Rutan characterized at the time as a serious flight control problem. But Rutan told Wired News that the flight control glitch turned out to be "not serious." The problem was traced to an actuator that hit a stop as it tried to move one of the plane's flaps.

Wired's Dan Brekke quoted Rutan as saying that the roll problem had a different cause: wind shear, which was the main reason why SpaceShipOne didn't go as high as intended and barely made the 100-kilometer milestone.

Resolving these questions opens the way for Rutan and the rest of his Scaled Composites team to schedule a formal Ansari X Prize attempt. Such an attempt would require 60-day advance notice, and the rocket ship would have to carry an extra 396 pounds of ballast to represent the weight of two passengers.

Two qualifying flights would have to be made in the course of two weeks, but Rutan has said he intends to do three launches in a two-week span — to provide an extra margin for winning the prize.

The report from Rutan has already started a drumbeat of anticipation, even though there's no word that the 60-day notice has been given yet. SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill and millionaire space passenger Dennis Tito are scheduled to appear Thursday on MSNBC's "Deborah Norville Tonight," and even the "Foxtrot" comic strip is getting into the X Prize action.