Dec 17 2003
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(New page: SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier during its first powered flight, but a partial landing gear collapse caused the privately built supersonic aircraft to veer off its desert runway. ...)
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SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier during its first powered flight, but a partial landing gear collapse caused the privately built supersonic aircraft to veer off its desert runway. Test pilot Brian Binnie was not injured during the landing. Scaled Composites LLC, which built the craft, stated that engineers could easily repair the damage the craft had sustained. The test flight represented a milestone~the first piloted supersonic flight of an aircraft developed by a small private company. SpaceShipOne's specially designed jet aircraft, the White Knight, carried SpaceShipOne to an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.63 kilometers) before releasing it. Traveling near Mach 1.2, the rocket shut down after firing for 15 seconds. Binnie then placed the craft into a vertical climb to reach 68,000 feet (20.72 kilometers). Nine seconds into the climb, the craft broke the sound barrier. Binnie then reconfigured the craft to its conventional shape, and glided to touchdown, at which time the landing gear collapsed. (Associated Press, “Private Rocket Plane Breaks Sound Barrier,” 18 December 2003; Leonard David, “Privately Funded SpaceShipOne Breaks Sound Barrier,” Space.com, 18 December 2003,http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/rutan_update_031217.html (accessed 30 March 2009).
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