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10-04-04
For
the second time in five days, SpaceShipOne flew into
space and claimed the $10 million X-Prize. Early numbers
indicate the space ship reached an altitude of 368,000
miles, a new altitude record for private space flight.
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Brian Binnie piloted
today's historic flight and thus became the second
astronaut created by SpaceShipOne.
Unlike last week's
flight, when SpaceShipOne rolled more than a dozen
during its trajectory, this flight went off without any
apparent hitches. Additionally, the craft once again
proved that higher altitudes are easily within reach.
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White
Knight, SpaceShipOne's carrier plane, and SpaceShipOne
minutes before the historic flight in the Mojave Desert.
(See more
pictures)
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Already,
Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites are preparing for the
next generation of private space flight. According to
Burt Rutan today, "We will be developing new ideas
also on SpaceShipTwo. What you've seen here is a
research and development program to look at new ideas on
how manned spacecraft can really be significantly
safer...and there will be new ideas out there."
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