- MOJAVE, Calif. (Reuters)
-- SpaceShipOne landed safely on Wednesday in the California desert after
a wild corkscrew-like ascent into space in a shot for a $10 million prize
offered to the first privately funded, manned craft to reach beyond the
atmosphere.
-
- The stubby, short-winged craft took off from the Mojave
airport shortly after dawn attached to its carrier ship, the White Knight,
and blasted off about an hour later.
-
- Just after firing its rocket, SpaceShipOne was seen
rolling
wildly against a blue sky, but the craft appeared to be stabilized by pilot
Michael Melvill.
-
- Flight controllers said the craft hit its target altitude
of at least 62 miles before booming back toward the desert at Mach 3 and
beginning a long, slow spiral glide toward landing.
-
- "Folks if all goes well, we have entered a new space
era," said Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize.
-
- The team behind SpaceShipOne, legendary aircraft designer
Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, were expected announce
within two hours whether the hour-long flight qualified as the first of
two space sorties needed to qualify for the Ansari X Prize.
-
- The Ansari X Prize will go to the first team to build
a spacecraft without government help, launch three people or their weight
equivalent at least 62 miles straight up, then repeat the feat with the
same craft within two weeks.
-
- On board Wednesday was enough ballast to stand for two
passengers, including tools belonging to the team and Rutan's college slide
rule.
-
- On June 21, SpaceShipOne, became the first privately
funded, manned craft to reach space with Melvill at the controls.
-
- X Prize founder Diamandis said he was inspired by the
$25,000 Orteig Prize won by American aviator Charles Lindbergh after his
1927 transatlantic flight.
-
- Lindbergh's flight helped to demonstrate that air travel
could be safe and affordable for ordinary people and blazed the trail for
commercial airlines -- a feat SpaceShipOne seems poised to repeat for space
travel.
-
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-
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