- A rocket propelled by a combination of rubber and laughing
gas is being readied for the first attempt to put a commercial astronaut
into space.
-
- The creators of SpaceShipOne hope Monday's attempt will
usher in an age of space travel at down-to-earth prices.
-
- In May, SpaceShipOne reached an altitude of 40 miles.
This time, the rocket will fire for 80 seconds to reach 62 miles. If this
sub-orbital flight is successful, it would be the first private, manned
spaceship to leave the earth's atmosphere.
-
- The astronaut - likely to be Mike Melvill, a test pilot
- should be weightless for more than three minutes and see the inky blackness
of space before gliding back to land at Mojave airport, 95 miles north
of Los Angeles.
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- The craft is the creation of Burt Rutan, longtime designer
of innovative aircraft, and is funded by Paul G Allen, the billionaire
co-founder of Microsoft. Mr Rutan, head of Scaled Composites, an aircraft
design company, said his goal was to show that space was no longer the
territory of Governments. If SpaceShipOne succeeds, "people around
the world might say, 'Wait a minute, I can do this.' "
-
- Space tourism "is around the corner, but it's not
here yet," added Mr Allen, who "sure wouldn't mind" taking
a ride someday in the spaceship he paid to have built.
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=LNHBQE
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