Rutan's SpaceShipOne Reaches Space
FYI,
"Manned Private Rocket Reaches Edge of Space" (XPRIZE)
LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-051304prize_lat,1,7861981.story?
: A piloted rocket released from a spider-like mother plane shot
: straight up into the desert sky here today, climbing to 212,000 feet
: and becoming the first privately funded vehicle to reach the edge of
: space.
: The SpaceShipOne rocket carried 62-year-old test pilot Mike Melvill
: to heights only a few NASA astronauts and Air Force pilots have ever
: reached.
: The aviation milestone also propelled the aircraft's designer, Burt
: Rutan, to the forefront in the race to win the $10-million Ansari X
: Prize, an unusual competition to spur development of commercial
: spaceflight.
: "You just can't imagine what a thrill it was. I had tears in my
: eyes," Rutan said, as the winged rocket glided back to Earth and
: made a picture-perfect landing at the airport here. "It creates a
: path for the rest of us to go into space."
--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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