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Private Manned Spaceship Succeeds in Second Flight for 10 Million- US Dollar Prize

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 October 2004, 06:00 CDT

Private manned spaceship succeeds in second flight for 10 million- US dollar prize

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A private manned spaceship made a successful second space flight within two weeks necessary for winning a 10 million-US dollar prize aimed at developing space tourism. SpaceShipOne completed the second flight five days after the first flight into space for seizing the Ansari X Prize.

It took off at the Mojave Airport in California at around 7:00 a.m. local time (GMT 1400 GMT), and separated from the belly of its carrier -- a specially designed jet plane -- about one hour after the launch.

Reports said SpaceShipOne ignited its rocket engine at an altitude of about 14,100 meters and continued to reach an altitude of about 100 km, a height generally accepted as being in space. After that, the spaceship re-entered Earth's atmosphere and glided back to the ground.

With the successful second space flight, SpaceShipOne is sure to defeat more than two dozens of rivals and win the Ansari X Prize, which goes to the first craft to safely compete two flights into space in a span of two weeks.

Astronaut Brian Binnie was in control of the second flight. The first flight was flown by astronaut Michael Melvill, who, with the same SpaceShipOne, set the record in June of the world's first flight into space by a private manned spaceship.

SpaceShipOne was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.

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