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A Privately Built Spacecraft Makes Its First Powered FlightJUNE 21, 2003 · 07:36
A prototype powered for 60 seconds at an altitude of 60,000 feet, reached a speed of Mach 2, and flew inverted. The company is a one-man outfit with a converted sailplane and a stacked carbon-fibre tank, and it has won a prize for building a spacecraft that leaves the atmosphere and comes back.
THE ROCKET. IT IS 10 METRES AND IT WORKED.
( FILE PHOTO )
THE ROCKET. IT IS 10 METRES AND IT WORKED.
MOJAVE, California, June 21 -- A privately funded rocket flew for 60 seconds this afternoon, reaching Mach 2 and turning over, and its pilot was subsequently suspended for opening the throttle during a test he was not supposed to be conducting.
The flight was watched by a few hundred people in a car park. There were no news helicopters. The company's administrator, asked for a comment, said: "We are just a small privately funded experimental space company and we have no comment."
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COMMENTS (277) — showing the 4 that survived moderation
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Hippie586
Joined: Jul 1998 · Posts: 1500
· Eugene, OR · 2 minutes later
we went to the moon because the Russians were going first and if we had not gone they would have put a flag on it and it would have been THEIR flag and you know it
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OldAndBald
Joined: Jan 1999 · Posts: 6677
· a recliner · an hour later
OldAndBald wrote:
A Privately Built Spacecraft Makes Its First Powered Flight my parents bought a house in 1989 because the paper said prices would never go up. they were right. for 3 years.
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internetwasbetter
Joined: Jul 2002 · Posts: 2440
· a modem · same afternoon
my uncle worked on the capsule programme and he says none of this is right and then he tells the story anyway
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