SpaceShipOne flight 15P

SpaceShipOne flight 15P

Mike Melvill moments after exiting SpaceShipOne and becoming the first private astronaut in history
Mission type	Test flight
Operator	Scaled Composites
Mission duration	24 minutes
Distance travelled	35 kilometers (22 mi)
Apogee	100.124 kilometers (62.214 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	SpaceShipOne
Manufacturer	Scaled Composites
Launch mass	3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb)
Dry mass	1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb)
Crew
Crew size	1
Members	Mike Melvill
Callsign	SpaceShipOne
Start of mission
Launch date	June 21, 2004, 14:50 (2004-06-21UTC14:50Z) UTC
Launch site	White Knight, Mojave
End of mission
Landing date	June 21, 2004, 15:14 (2004-06-21UTC15:15Z) UTC
Landing site	Mojave

Flight 15P of SpaceShipOne (X0) was the first privately funded human spaceflight. It took place on June 21, 2004. It was the fourth powered test flight of the Tier One program, the previous three test flights having reached much lower altitudes. The flight carried only its pilot, Mike Melvill, who thus became the first non-governmental astronaut.

This flight was a full-altitude test, but not itself a competitive flight for the Ansari X Prize, the prize for the first non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. Problems were encountered during the flight, but later corrected, paving the way for SpaceShipOne to make competitive flights later in 2004.

All times are in PDT, which is seven hours behind UTC. This was the local civil time at the spaceport on the day of the flight. All measurements are first stated in the U.S. customary units in which they were originally reported, with conversions to SI units also given.

Taxiing for takeoff from Mojave Spaceport was originally planned for 06:30, because the wind conditions in that area are most favorable in the early morning. Taxiing actually started at 06:37, and the flight took off at 06:47. After an ascent to 47,000 feet (14.3 km) coupled with the White Knight airplane, the SpaceShipOne craft separated at 07:50 and immediately ignited its rocket.

Shortly after ignition, at about 60,000 feet (18 km), the craft unexpectedly rolled 90 degrees to the left, due to wind shear. When the pilot attempted to correct it, it rolled 90 degrees to the right. The pilot levelled the craft out, and proceeded with the climb. The correction of the roll excursion, using full trim, caused a pitch trim tab to run up against a stop. This caused the trim actuator, as designed, to stop operating for a 3 s timeout. Not realising what had happened, the pilot and controllers interpreted this as failure of the trim actuator, and they switched to a backup system. Spacecraft attitude was problematic during the entire climb, and not corrected until the start of re-entry.