Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne and... Turtles?

What's up with the turtles?

SpaceShipOne was born and raised in the Mojave Desert. Apparently, the Mojave Desert is home to some very special turtles. These turtles are protected by the U.S. Federal Government. And we all know the U.S. Federal Government has lots of rules and regulations.

According to the afforementioned rules and regulations, these turtles must be protected from, among other things, SpaceShipOne. So, before each SpaceShipOne flight, some unfortunate soul was always assigned to run off and do "Turtle Patrol". Turtle Patrol entails driving a vehicle up and down the runway to ensure there are no turtles in harms way. You can hear a reference to this in the middle of our song, "I Want To Go In A Space Ship". If you have not yet heard the song, do yourself a favor and check it out before you go. And, of course, if you get your own copy of the DVD you get the song, too.

But I digress...

To win the X Prize, SpaceShipOne was required to carry a pilot and two passengers -- or the equivalent weight of two passengers. On all three flights, in order to satisfy this weight requirement, SpaceShipOne was loaded with a variety of items to act as ballast. Most if this ballast consisted of tools and personal items from the staff and crew.

Now, regarding those aforementioned rules and regulations, we were informed by a source very close to the project, during an unguarded moment, that there is nothing in those rules and regulations prohibiting the transportation of the specially protected turtles into space. So we have to wonder: When SpaceShipOne went into space, were Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie the only carbon-based biological entities on board?

We'll probably never know for sure.

At any rate, now you know how Desert Turtles came to be associated with SpaceShipOne and why there is such a thing as "A Turtle's Eye View of SpaceShipOne".