Another Rocket Plane Flight Monday?
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The builders of SpaceShipOne are trying to decide whether to proceed with another flight into space next week to win the $10 million “X Prize.”
They´re analyzing what happened to the rocket plane yesterday when it rolled dozens of times as it hurtled toward space. Test pilot Michael Melvill climbed to 337,500 feet past the edge of the atmosphere to complete the first stage of the competition.
The X Prize encourages space tourism by rewarding the first privately built, manned rocket ship to fly in space twice in 14 days.
Melvill and spaceship builder Burt Rutan say they´re confident the flight scheduled for Monday would go on. SpaceShipOne made history in June when it became the first private, manned craft to reach space.
