Ceilidh

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

The privately owned and operated SpaceShipOne spacecraft has won the $10 million Ansari X Prize by successfully making its second manned flight into space.

SpaceShipOne is the first non-government rocket to twice take a man into space. It made its first successful trip six days ago.

The rocket, flown by 51-year-old Brian Binnie, was carried aloft at dawn on Monday by the mother ship White Knight. It was released about an hour later 46,000 feet above the Mojave Desert. SpaceShipOne then streaked to an altitude of 69.7 miles, surpassing the accepted limit of Earth's atmosphere, which is 62 miles. The spacecraft then made a safe re-entry and landing

A crowd of thousands of supporters on the ground celebrated as soon as the first unofficial reports of success were received.

About an hour after the ship landed, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis announced that SpaceShipOne's team had claimed the prize.

The purpose of the X Prize is to spur private space travel in the same way similar competitions encouraged commercial air travel in the early 20th century. To win the prize, a privately-funded spacecraft was required to fly three people, or the equivalent weight, to a height of at least 62 miles, then repeat the flight within two weeks. More than two dozen teams around the world were trying to win the prize.

SpaceShipOne was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed by Burt Rutan. The project is believed to have cost between $20 million and $30 million.

Pilot Brian Binnie Atop The X-Prize Winner SpaceshipOne