Burt Rutan was able to use the data from the billions of dollars spend by the NACA, NASA, USAF, and private contractors over more than 50 years to achieve what he did. I am certainly not dissing Rutan. NASA cheered him on like everyone else did. However a suborbital up and down is not the same as achieving orbit with a payload capability that the Shuttle has.
myheroesareDeadandRegistered - "and no heat tiles for the return."
The Delta-V required for orbit is quite different for a suborbital up and down. Rutan's ship was not designed to withstand an atmospheric entry from orbit.
No it's not, but I don't recall anyone downplaying Alan Shepard's suborbital flight.