SpaceShipOne kicked ass today, winning the X-Prize.
The ship was built by Scaled Composites, using polymer fabrics and epoxy (read - cloth and glue) to touch the edges of space with their rocket-plane-glider.
The X-Prize was a contest set to encourage private companies to invest in commercial space flight, taking 3 people to the edge of space twice within two weeks in the same vehicle.
And SpaceShipOne did it!
Check out the story at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/04/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/index.html
'Virgin' owner Richard Branson has licensed the design for SpaceShipOne to build a fleet of 'Virgin Galactic' space ships to take average people on orbital trips.
How cool is that? Not that I'll be able to afford one of these trips in the next 10 years, but someday! Once a cheap way to get to space has been perfected, space hotels are not far off.
You think I'm joking... But no!
Hee hee!
Hee hee hee!
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