SpaceShipOne, the craft that in June became the first private vehicle to take a person into space, is expected to return to flight this morning. Takeoff is set for 9:47 EST. | FoxNews has live coverage. |
Pilot Michael Melvill, who became the first private astronaut in June, and weight equivalent to two people will be on board. The expected launch is the first of two scheduled flights that would earn the team -- led by designer Burt Rutan and financed largely by Microsoft's Paul Allen -- a $10 million prize for being the first to fly three people -- or one person and two dummies -- into space twice in two weeks.SpaceShipOne will head aloft underneath White Knight, a carrier aircraft. The larger craft will climb for about an hour and release the space vehicle above 45,000 feet. Then, a rocket will fire and the craft will head toward an expected peak more than 60 miles above the Mojave Desert. Such a flight would meet half the requirements for the Ansari X-Prize. Another flight could occur within seven days. |