Glenn Mahone<br />Headquarters, Washington Sept. 29, 2004<br />(Phone: 202/358-1898)<br /><br />RELEASE: 04-323<br /><br />NASA SALUTES SPACESHIPONE TEAM AFTER SECOND FLIGHT<br /><br /> NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe congratulated the<br />SpaceShipOne team on the second successful flight of a human on<br />a private spacecraft. Administrator O'Keefe was in the Mojave<br />Desert, Calif., today to watch SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill<br />take off and safely land.<br /><br />"Burt Rutan and Paul Allen and the rest of the team are great<br />examples of the kind of determination and creativity that is<br />helping America achieve its exploration goals," Administrator<br />O'Keefe said. "We at NASA applaud their terrific achievement<br />today, as well as the spirit of competition behind the Ansari X<br />Prize.We wish Mike continued safe travels to space," he said.<br /><br />From the orbiting International Space Station, NASA astronaut<br />Mike Fincke took note of the SpaceShipOne flight. "Well, it was<br />nice that [cosmonaut] Gennady [Padalka] and I weren't the only<br />two humans off the planet, even if it was only for a little<br />while," he said during space-to-ground transmissions today.<br />"So, good job and congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team!"<br /><br />Fincke's comments are available on the NASA TV Video File<br />available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S.<br />on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude.<br />The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and<br />audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is<br />available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees<br />west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is<br />vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. For NASA TV<br />information and schedules on the Internet, visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov/ntv<br /><br />For information about NASA's exploration and discovery<br />programs, visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov