Burt Rutan Quotes (28 Quotes)


    In fact, it's more dangerous to fly in space in America now than it was earlier. It certainly is more expensive...more difficult. We've been relying on our taxpayer-funded research organization, Na Say, excuse me, NASA.

    I knew that the significance would be known and understood by everyone in 10 years. I'm extremely pleased to see it here this early.

    Dick made the point in 1986 that it would be good for someone to come out and beat the record, and he's delighted to give it up.

    I really thought he'd start this program, do the conceptual work, and move on. But he's like a kid in a candy store. He's having more fun than he ever has.

    As opposed to the first 44 years of manned spaceflight, ... the difference is people are going to know that it is for them.


    We identified what we thought was last year's problem and put in a plumbing fix.

    I think within the next two to three years there will be tickets available for sub-orbital flights,

    In 12 or 15 years, there will be routine, affordable space tourism not just in the U.S. but in a lot of countries.

    Just like when early airplanes were flying in 1910, we didn't know what the benefits are, but we were doing it because it was fun.

    Our success proves without question that manned space flight does not require mammoth government expenditures...it can be done by a small company operating with limited resources and a few dozen dedicated employees.

    I absolutely have to develop a space tourism system that is at least 100 times safer than anything that has flown man into space, and probably significantly more than that.

    Testing leads to failure, and failure leads to understanding.

    There will be a new industry. And we are just now in a beginning. I will predict that in 12 or 15 years, there will be tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people that fly, and see that black sky.

    I'm not at all embarrassed that we're opening up a new industry that will likely be a multi-billion dollar industry that's focused only on fun, ... long lasting and significant for our nation.

    We have a lot of openings for people...not just engineers, but people that can help us build research spaceships and production spaceships,

    Since Yuri Gagarin and Al Shepard's epoch flights in 1961, all space missions have been flown only under large, expensive government efforts. By contrast, our program involves a few, dedicated individuals who are focused entirely on making spaceflight affordable,

    We need affordable space travel to inspire our youth, to let them know that they can experience their dreams, can set significant goals and be in a position to lead all of us to future progress in exploration, discovery and fun. Thanks to the X Prize for the inspiration.

    If you don't have a consensus that it's nonsense, you don't have a breakthrough.

    At first, it will be real rich people, hundreds of them flying into suborbital space. But what will happen is you'll run out of real rich people real quickly.

    You're going to be more creative, more innovative, and have a lot more ability to stumble into a big breakthrough.

    Today's flight marks a critical turning point in the history of aerospace. We have redefined space travel as we know it.

    We'll go back to the moon by not learning anything new.

    Our goal is to show that you can develop a robust, safe manned space program and do it at an extremely low cost.

    Mankind does need to move away from where we are to explore somewhere else.

    We believe a proper goal for safety is the record that was achieved during the first five years of commercial scheduled airline service which, while exposing the passengers to high risks by today's standards, was more than 100 times as safe as government manned space flight,

    We are looking for people that like to build things with their hands and are good craftsman. We need those that give 100-percent each day and enjoy a fast-paced research and development environment.

    I strongly feel that, if we are successful, our program will mark the beginning of a renaissance for manned space flight. This might even be similar to that wonderful time period between 1908 and 1912 when the world went from a total of ten airplane pilots to hundreds of airplane types and thousands of pilots in 39 countries.

    Our hope is that this will be a benchmark ... for a lot more people to not only have fun but to reap the benefits that we believe might be there,


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