Space cadet: Jim Tighe was the driving force behind the aerodynamics of SpaceshipOne, the...

'Where's Jim Tighe?"

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SpaceShipOne (SS1) Crew Chief Steve Losey instinctively blurted out the question from the cockpit, and it was quickly repeated by the team of engineers in the Scaled Composites hangar until it seemed like an echo reverberating through a mountain valley. It was the day before the first of two qualifying flights for the glider-like craft that would soon soar into history as the first privately funded manned vehicle to escape earth's atmosphere and cross the boundaries of space.

Running a series of last-min