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bran987
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Private Rocket Plane Makes Historic Space Flight
The unprecedented $20 million project was intended to demonstrate the viability of commercial space flight and open the door for space tourism.
The plane with its striking nose -- a pointed cone covered with small portholes -- was designed by legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan and built with more than $20 million in funding by billionaire Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp.
After burning its rocket for 80 seconds, SpaceShipOne sped up to more than three times the speed of sound and then coasted to its peak altitude, making Melvill weightless.
The flight marked the first time that a non-government spacecraft reached the altitude considered to be the boundary between earth's atmosphere and outer space.
Melville said he released a bag of M&Ms chocolates to see if they would float in the cockpit.
"It was amazing, these M&Ms were going around everywhere," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0&e=1&u=/nm/20040621/sc_nm/space_flight_dc_17
The unprecedented $20 million project was intended to demonstrate the viability of commercial space flight and open the door for space tourism.
The plane with its striking nose -- a pointed cone covered with small portholes -- was designed by legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan and built with more than $20 million in funding by billionaire Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp.
After burning its rocket for 80 seconds, SpaceShipOne sped up to more than three times the speed of sound and then coasted to its peak altitude, making Melvill weightless.
The flight marked the first time that a non-government spacecraft reached the altitude considered to be the boundary between earth's atmosphere and outer space.
Melville said he released a bag of M&Ms chocolates to see if they would float in the cockpit.
"It was amazing, these M&Ms were going around everywhere," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0&e=1&u=/nm/20040621/sc_nm/space_flight_dc_17
