SpaceShipOne is a product of Scaled Composites, led by aeronautical innovator, Burt Rutan. The aerospace research company is located at Mojave Airport.
While the craft and the existence of a commercial, piloted space program were revealed by Rutan in April of last year, the person who was backing the venture with cash was a deep secret.
The man turned out to be investor and philanthropist, Paul G. Allen. He has quietly footed the bill on the work, joining forces with Rutan back in March of 2001. It was only in December of last year when SpaceShipOne first cracked the sound barrier that the long-rumored sponsor broke the silence barrier.
But how much money Allen has shelled out on SpaceShipOne remains hush-hush.
Spirit of innovation
Allen is not a new arrival when it comes to innovation, technology, space exploration and spending his cash.
Allen co-founded Microsoft Corporation with Bill Gates in 1975 and served as the company's executive vice president of research and new product development, the company's senior technology post, until 1983.
Today, Allen owns and invests in a suite of companies, with a portfolio focus on digital communications, new media, biotechnology, and entertainment. His primary companies include Vulcan Inc. of Seattle, Washington.
One of the top 15 philanthropists in America, Allen explains that the private rocket plane initiative captures the spirit of creativity and exploration seen in aviation.
"SpaceShipOne is a tangible example of continuing humankinds efforts to travel into space, and effectively demonstrating that private, non-government resources can make a big difference in this field of discovery and invention," Allen explained the day he was spotlighted as backer of the venture.
SETI supporter
Allens interest in space goes well beyond the bounds of the suborbital. One could say his passion for out-of-this-world projects can be measured in astronomical units too.
Last March, the SETI Institute announced that Allen had committed $13.5 million to support the construction of the first and second phases of a unique, multiple use radio telescope array. The SETI Institute is a leading astrobiology institution with the mission of exploring the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.
The hardware project is branded as the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).
When construction is completed late in the decade, the ATA will eventually consist of a cluster of 350 20-foot (6.1-meter) dishes. A slice of the full-up ATA is scheduled to begin conducting scientific investigations by the end of this year - making use of 32 dishes.
As part of its duties, the ATA will search for possible signals from technologically advanced civilizations elsewhere in the galaxy. The ATA is a partnership between the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory (RAL) of the University of California, Berkeley.
Construction of the ATA is underway at the Hat Creek Observatory, northeast of San Francisco on a site operated by the RAL and in an area that is "radio quiet" meaning there is a reduced level of interfering signals from human-produced sources.
Changing the landscape
The SETI announcement in March follows the successful completion of a three-year research and development phase which was originally funded by an $11.5 million gift from the Allen Foundation.
"I am very excited to be supporting one of the world's most visionary efforts to seek basic answers to some of the fundamental question about our universe and what other civilizations may exist elsewhere," Allen explained in a press statement.
Allen said he was a big proponent of leveraging revolutionary technology and design and applying it to important problems in science. The developments taking place with the ATA will not only enable "a lot of bang for our research and development buck," but it will also change the landscape of how telescopes will be built in the future, he stated.
"An instrument of this magnitude, which will result in the expansion of our understanding of how the universe was formed, and how it has evolved, and our place therein, is the reason I am the primary supporter of its development, design and construction," Allen said.
Seeing through Purple Haze
While backing space ships and listening for alien intelligence, hes involved in a personal array of other undertakings.
For one, Allens early admiration of science fiction has manifested itself in The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. It opens in Seattle on June 18.
Allens view is that sci-fi inspires critical thinking about society, history, culture and politics. The new collection has been created "to inspire new generations to reach beyond the present, imagine the future and explore the infinite possibilities of the universe," according to a museum press statement.
Then theres the Experience Music Project (EMP), a 140,000-square-foot interactive music museum located at the Seattle Center. Also founded by Allen, this activity was spurred by his early fervor for legendary rock musician, Jimi Hendrix. The result: Amassing the world's largest collection of Hendrix memorabilia.
The Hendrix album of 1967, Are You Experienced?, contains the song "Purple Haze" that proclaims: "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky".
Jimi Hendrix envisioned a place that he called Sky Church, Allen notes, where all people, regardless of age, background or interests, could come together to celebrate music. EMP's Sky Church brings this idea to life.
EMP's collection includes more than 80,000 artifacts that helped shape music history, including musical instruments used by artists such as Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and Kurt Cobain.
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