KNIGHT, NEW CRAFT RECEIVE AWARDS STATE AUTHORITY HONORS LATE SENATOR, SPACESHIPONE.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - The late state senator William J. ``Pete'' Knight and SpaceShipOne's builders were among the recipients of awards handed out by the state's spaceport authority. In their annual SpotBeam Award ceremony, the California Space Authority The California Space Authority (CSA) is a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Academia, and Workforce. recognized Knight for his efforts in protecting military bases and promoting the space industry while the SpaceShipOne team received an award for innovation. The ceremony was held in Sacramento on Dec. 2. ``The SpotBeam Award recipients are a collection of the best our state has to offer,'' said Andrea Seastrand, executive director of the authority. ``They are taking space technologies down new avenues of opportunity and making the world recognize that California maintains its prominence in the global space enterprise community.'' Knight was recognized for a body of work stretching back from his days as a record-setting test pilot of the X-15 rocketplane to his service in the state Legislature. As a test pilot, Knight was one of eight men to earn astronaut wings piloting the X-15 into space and he also set a speed record of 4,520 mph in one of the craft. Knight was an ardent supporter of the state's military bases, particularly Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . Knight also chaired the space flight industries subcommittee of the Senate Defense Conversion, Retention and Space Flight Industries Select Committee. ``CSA (1) (Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, Ontario, www.csa.ca) A standards-defining organization founded in 1919. It is involved in many industries, including electronics, communications and information technology. celebrates the accomplishments of a true American hero, whose tireless efforts supporting space, aerospace and base retention will be long remembered,'' the authority said in announcing the award. Mojave Aerospace Ventures Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV) is a company founded by Paul Allen and Burt Rutan to handle the commercial spinoffs from the Tier One project. It owns the intellectual property arising from Tier One, and it is in turn owned by Paul Allen (the majority shareholder) and Burt , a joint project of Mojave's Burt Rutan and billionaire Paul G. Allen, was recognized for the development of SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded, privately developed, manned spacecraft. SpaceShipOne made three suborbital flights this year, including two within a two-week period, earning the team the $10 million Ansari X Prize The Ansari X PRIZE was a space competition in which the X PRIZE Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. . The award is the latest in a string of accolades for the team, which includes being named as Time magazine's invention of the year. ``SpaceShipOne represents the beginning of a new era of manned spaceflight, the extension of which will bring affordable, regular, and safe manned commercial spaceflight,'' the CSA said. The other SpotBeam recipients this year were the CubeSat Project, an effort by academia, including Stanford University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. , and private industry to advance satellite technology; the British American Business Council for fostering international partnerships; the Space and Missile Systems Center Based out of Los Angeles Air Force Base in California, the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is a part of Air Force Space Command of the United States Air Force. Its mission is to conduct research and development of U.S. military outer space and missile systems. at Los Angeles Air Force Base Los Angeles Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located in El Segundo, California. Los Angeles Air Force Base houses and supports the headquarters of the Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). for fostering military and civilian space technology; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation).Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. , for its work on interplanetary probes; DIRECTV for successful commercial space applications; and a trio of California congressional leaders - Rep. Jerry Lewis, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and Rep. Jane Harman - for supporting California's space efforts at the federal level. The California Space Authority is a nonprofit corporation created to create, grow and retain the state's space efforts. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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