The Hindu : International / Globescan : Space flight prize won

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 06, 2004

International

International - Globescan

Space flight prize won

Los Angeles: The latest episode of the space race was won on Monday when a short stubby craft soared more than 100 km into the air above the Mojave desert and landed successfully for the second time in a week. SpaceShipOne, piloted by a 51-year-old former U.S. navy test pilot, won the $10-million Ansari X-Prize for the first non-government team to fly three persons or their equivalent weight into space, and repeat the feat within two weeks. The prize was set up in 1996 to encourage the development of commercial space flights. ``Let me say I thank God that I live in a country where this is possible,'' the pilot, Brian Binnie, said shortly after landing. Although Mr Binnie did not take passengers, he took ballast to reproduce the weight of two passengers. Monday's flight may not quite have been one small step for man, but the hyperbole and the sense of history weighed heavily on those involved. ``What we finally have here, after 40 years of waiting, is the beginning of the personal space flight revolution,'' said the man behind the prize, Peter Diamandis. Standing alongside him at the launch site was Virgin boss Richard Branson, who said he had signed a deal with the team to develop spacecraft, to start commercial flights in 2007-8.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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