With funding from Microsoft cofounder and billionaire Paul Allen, the first nongovernment manned rocket ship is set to propel 62 miles from the Earth’s surface to reach space in a launch scheduled for June 21st. SpaceShipOne, which soared two-thirds of the way to the 100-km, out-of-atmosphere point designated as space for the Ansari X Prize competition three weeks ago, will mark the first manned trip to suborbital space without government support. The scheduled flight, to take place in California’s Mojave Desert, will be open to the public.
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Paul Allen’s SpaceShipOne Sets Date with Space
Posted by: Jay Lyman June 3, 2004 10:48 AMWith funding from Microsoft cofounder and billionaire Paul Allen, the first nongovernment manned rocket ship is set to propel 62 miles from the Earth’s surface to reach space in a launch scheduled for June 21st. SpaceShipOne, which soared two-thirds of the way to the 100-km, out-of-atmosphere point designated as space for the Ansari X Prize competition three weeks ago, will mark the first manned trip to suborbital space without government support. The scheduled flight, to take place in California’s Mojave Desert, will be open to the public.