Apr 18 2003
From The Space Library
At the Mojave Airport in California, aircraft designer Burt Rutan unveiled for the first time his White Knight launch system and SpaceShipOne spacecraft, which he had built in secret. Rutan had designed the White Knight, a type of aircraft, to carry the spacecraft to 50,000 feet, where the White Knight would release SpaceShipOne to launch like an aircraft into a steep climb. Rutan had begun testing the launch platform at lower altitudes in August 2002, also testing on the ground the release mechanism between the spacecraft and the launch platform. In the public unveiling, Rutan flew the White Knight only. The craft flew to an altitude of 9,000 feet (2,734 meters) before spiraling down to make a soft but extremely short landing. Rutan demonstrated SpaceShipOne's systems, explaining that the craft should land in the same manner as the launch system. The flight profile of the system allowed SpaceShipOne to reach 54 nautical miles (62 miles or 99.8 kilometers) maximum altitude over a flight patch of 35 miles (56.3 kilometers). NASA designated anyone flying at an altitude of over 50 miles (80.4 kilometers) as an astronaut. If Rutan's system succeeded in flights outside the atmosphere, it would become the first private human spaceflight program. (Jon Bonne, “Private Manned Space Plane Unveiled,” MSNBC.com, 19 April 2003.
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