On June 21, 2004, the first privately funded human spaceflight, launched on SpaceShipOne.
The ship flew 62.5 miles above Earth's surface -- just a few miles above the boundary of space -- for about 3 minutes before gliding back down to Earth. Because SpaceShipOne didn't make a complete orbit around the planet, it made what's known as a suborbital flight. The experimental aircraft was designed and built by a private company called Scaled Composites, which is owned by aerospace designer Burt Rutan. SpaceShipOne was 28 feet long, about 5 feet in diameter, and had short, wide wings spanning 16 feet. One pilot and up to two passengers could fit on board. SpaceShipOne flew to space two more times that same year. In Oct. , SpaceShipOne won the 10 million dollar Ansari X Prize for being the first privately developed and reusable spacecraft to make multiple trips to space.
The ship flew 62.5 miles above Earth's surface -- just a few miles above the boundary of space -- for about 3 minutes before gliding back down to Earth. Because SpaceShipOne didn't make a complete orbit around the planet, it made what's known as a suborbital flight. The experimental aircraft was designed and built by a private company called Scaled Composites, which is owned by aerospace designer Burt Rutan. SpaceShipOne was 28 feet long, about 5 feet in diameter, and had short, wide wings spanning 16 feet. One pilot and up to two passengers could fit on board. SpaceShipOne flew to space two more times that same year. In Oct. , SpaceShipOne won the 10 million dollar Ansari X Prize for being the first privately developed and reusable spacecraft to make multiple trips to space.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03In 2004, the first privately funded human spaceflight launched on Spaceship One.
00:08The ship flew 62.5 miles above Earth's surface, just a few miles above the boundary of space,
00:14for about three minutes before gliding back down to Earth.
00:17The experimental aircraft was designed and built by a private company called Scaled Composites,
00:22which is owned by aerospace designer Bert Rutan.
00:25One pilot and up to two passengers could fit on board.
00:29Spaceship One flew to space two more times that same year.
00:32In October, it won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for being the first privately developed
00:37and reusable spacecraft to make multiple trips to space.
00:40And that's what happened on this day in space.