Date: 24/6/04
www.iht.com A rocket plane soared above Earth’s atmosphere Monday in the first privately financed manned spaceflight, then glided back to Earth for an unpowered landing.
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SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill was aiming to fly 62 miles above the Earth’s surface. The exact altitude reached was not immediately confirmed by radar.
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The ship touched down at Mojave Airport to applause and cheers at 8:15 a.m. PDT, about 90 minutes after it was carried aloft slung under the belly of the jet-powered White Knight.
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The mission announcer said the mission had been successful.
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‘‘Beautiful sight, Mike,’’ mission control said to Melvill as the gliding spaceship slowly circled toward its landing.
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Later, standing on the tarmac beside the ship, Melvill said seeing the Earth from outside the atmosphere was ‘‘almost a religious experience.’’
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‘‘You can see the curvature of the Earth,’’ he said. ‘‘You got a hell of a view from 60, 62 miles.’’
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Melvill said he heard a loud bang during the flight and did not know what it was. But he pointed to a place at the rear of the spacecraft where a part of the structure covering the nozzle had buckled, suggesting it may have been the source of the noise.
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White Knight took off at 6:45 a.m. carrying the rocket plane. After an hours’ climb the pair reached about 46,000 feet and SpaceShipOne was released.
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A moment later Melvill flipped a switch to arm the rocket, and another switch to ignite it. After a brief firing, the rocket motor shut down and the craft coasted to the top of its trajectory.
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Both craft were built by innovative aircraft designer Burt Rutan, and the project was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who would only describe the cost as being in excess of $20 million.
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‘‘Clearly, there is an enormous, pent-up hunger to fly in space and not just dream about it,’’ Rutan said Sunday. ‘‘Now I know what it was like to be involved in America’s amazing race to the moon in the ’60s.’’
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SpaceShipOne is the leading contender for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million award to the first privately financed three-seat spacecraft to reach 62 miles and repeat the feat within two weeks.
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The three-seat requirement demonstrates the capacity for paying customers; the quick turnaround between flights demonstrates reusability and reliability.
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NASA also is interested, said Michael Lembeck, requirements division director of the space agency’s Office of Exploration Systems. |