In one of the more wildly off-topic categories, I mentioned a little while
ago that we had released a new "screensaver" (actually, a rotating picture
display) that's freely downloadable from:

     http://aics-research.com/qcphoto/elegance

Although the screensaver was designed for you to fill with your own
photographs, we've put together several sets of pre-formatted photographs for you in
order to tweak your imagination. I added another set today: a group of truly
interesting photographs that resulted from the August 11th first flight test of
SpaceShipOne, Burt Rutan's entry for the $10 million dollar X Prize (see:
http://www.xprize.org/ ).

The following description was provided after the flight: "The space ship was
launched at 47,000 feet and 105 knots, 10 nm east of Mojave. Separation was
clean and positive with no tendency to roll off or pitch bobble. An initial
handling qualities evaluation was very positive, supported close correlation to
the vehicle simulator and with that confidence, the first flight test cards were
executed as planned. The flight provided handling quality and performance
data over 60% of the expected subsonic flight envelope from stall to 150 knots.
Trim sensitivity, stick forces, control harmony and L/D performance were all as
expected. The on-board avionics and energy management cueing displays
performed flawlessly, the gear extension rapid, and the vehicle made a smooth
touchdown at 7:56 local on Runway 30 at Mojave. The entire flight, from launch to
landing, was viewable from the ground and SpaceShipOne with its unique planform
was intriguing to watch as it cut gracefully through the air and was put
through its paces."

This is a group of photographs that truly makes you think of "Those daring
young men in their flying machines." You don't need to use the Elegance
screensaver to view the photographs, but they do look nice when you do. Otherwise,
they're just JPEG images. A self-extracting zipped file of the images can be
obtained from:

     http://67.41.4.238/offsite/elegance/SpaceShipPictures.exe

Wirt Atmar

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