FIRST - Privately developed, piloted vehicle to reach space - Washington DC
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geobwong2k
N 38° 53.304 W 077° 01.194
18S E 324811 N 4306331
SpaceShip One, on display at the National Air and Space Museum, was the First Privatly developed vehicle to reach space. In doing so, it won $10 Million X-Prize for a privately funded craft to reach a sub-orbit of 100 km twice in two weeks.
Waymark Code: WM6DHM
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2009
Views: 20
On 21 June 2004, the SpaceShip One built by Burt Rutan and his team at
Scaled Composites, was the first privatly developed vehicle to reach the edge of space by achiving and altitude of 100 Kilometers (62 miles). The record-breaking flight was piloted by Mike Melville. A second flight, also piloted by Mike Melville, reached 102 Kilometers (64 miles) on 29 September 2004 to win the
Ansari X Prize of $10 Million. Thus, the realm of space travel moved from the government to private parties. Well, it will eventually, but may be a few years in the future.
The SpaceShip One does not take off like a plane, but is carried aloft by a mothership called the White Knight (which is not on display). This is similar to the concept of stages on rockets, with the difference that the White Knight, like SpaceShip One is reusable. After detaching from the White Knight, the rocket powered SpaceShip One flew to the edge of space and then glided back to Earth for a save landing. The total time for the first flight was 24 minutes with 3 of them in a weightless condition.
Now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, you can see SpaceShip One on display in the Milestones of Flight Gallery.
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