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1、United2Aplantobuildtheworld'sfirstairportforlaunchingcommercialspacecraftinNewMexicoisthelatestdevelopmentinthenewspacerace,araceamongprivatecompaniesandbillionaireentrepreneurstocarrypayingpassengersintospaceandtokick-startanewindustry,astrotourism.Themanwhoisleadingthera
2、cemaynotbefamiliartoyou,buttoastronauts,pilots,andaeronauticalengineers–basicallytoanyonewhoknowsanythingaboutaircraftdesign–BurtRutanisalegend,anaeronauticalengineerwhoselatestaircraftistheworld'sfirstprivatespaceship.Ashetold60MinutescorrespondentEdBradleywhenhefirstmeth
3、imalittleoverayearago,ifhisideaflies,somedayspacetravelmaybecheapenoughandsafeenoughforordinarypeopletogowhereonlyastronautshavegonebeforeTheWhiteKnightisaratherunusuallookingaircraft,builtjustforthepurposeofcarryingarocketplanecalledSpaceShipOne,thefirstspacecraftbuiltbyp
4、rivateenterprise.WhiteKnightandSpaceShipOnearethelatestcreationsofBurtRutan.They'repartofhisdreamtodevelopacommercialtravelbusinessinspace."Therewillbeanewindustry.Andwearejustnowinabeginning.Iwillpredictthatin12or15years,therewillbetensofthousands,maybeevenhundredsofthous
5、andsofpeoplethatfly,andseethatblacksky,"saysRutan.OnJune21,2004,WhiteKnighttookofffromanairstripinMojave,Calif.,carryingRutan'sspaceship.Ittook63minutestoreachthelaunchaltitudeof47,000feet.Oncethere,theWhiteKnightcrewpreparedtoreleasethespaceship.Thefierceaccelerationslamm
6、edMikeMelvill,thepilot,backinhisseat.HeputSpaceShipOneintoanearverticaltrajectory,until,asplanned,thefuelranout.Stillclimbinglikeaspentbullet,Melvillhopedtogainasmuchaltitudeaspossibletoreachspacebeforetheshipbeganfallingbacktoearth.Bythetimethespaceshipreachedtheendofitsc
7、limb,itwas22milesoffcourse.Butithad,justbarely,reachedanaltitudeofjustover62miles—theinternationallyrecognizedboundaryofspace.ItwasthenewsRutanhadbeenwaitingfor.FallingbacktoEarthfromanaltitudeof62miles,SpaceShipOne'stiltingwing,arevolutionaryinnovationcalledthefeather,cau
8、sedtherocketplanetopositionitselfforarelativelybenignre-entryandturnedthespaceshipintoagl
