NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

RELEASE : 04-323 NASA Salutes SpaceShipOne Team After Second Flight NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe congratulated the SpaceShipOne team on the second successful flight of a human on a private spacecraft. Administrator O'Keefe was in the Mojave Desert, Calif., today to watch SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill take off and safely land.

"Burt Rutan and Paul Allen and the rest of the team are great examples of the kind of determination and creativity that is helping America achieve its exploration goals," Administrator O'Keefe said. "We at NASA applaud their terrific achievement today, as well as the spirit of competition behind the Ansari X Prize. We wish Mike continued safe travels to space," he said.

From the orbiting International Space Station, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke took note of the SpaceShipOne flight. "Well, it was nice that [cosmonaut] Gennady [Padalka] and I weren't the only two humans off the planet, even if it was only for a little while," he said during space-to-ground transmissions today. "So, good job and congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team!"

Fincke's comments are available on the NASA TV Video File available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. For NASA TV information and schedules on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA's exploration and discovery programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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