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1、United2Aplantobuildtheworld'sfirstairportforlaunchingcommercialspacecraftinNewMexicoisthelatestdevelopmentinthenewspacerace,araceamongprivatecompaniesandbillionaireentrepreneurstocarrypayingpassengersintospaceandtokick-startanewindustry,astrotourism.Themanwhoisleadingtherace
2、maynotbefamiliartoyou,buttoastronauts,pilots,andaeronauticalengineers–basicallytoanyonewhoknowsanythingaboutaircraftdesign–BurtRutanisalegend,anaeronauticalengineerwhoselatestaircraftistheworld'sfirstprivatespaceship.Ashetold60MinutescorrespondentEdBradleywhenhefirstmethimal
3、ittleoverayearago,ifhisideaflies,somedayspacetravelmaybecheapenoughandsafeenoughforordinarypeopletogowhereonlyastronautshavegonebeforeTheWhiteKnightisaratherunusuallookingaircraft,builtjustforthepurposeofcarryingarocketplanecalledSpaceShipOne,thefirstspacecraftbuiltbyprivate
4、enterprise.WhiteKnightandSpaceShipOnearethelatestcreationsofBurtRutan.They'repartofhisdreamtodevelopacommercialtravelbusinessinspace."Therewillbeanewindustry.Andwearejustnowinabeginning.Iwillpredictthatin12or15years,therewillbetensofthousands,maybeevenhundredsofthousandsofpe
5、oplethatfly,andseethatblacksky,"saysRutan.OnJune21,2004,WhiteKnighttookofffromanairstripinMojave,Calif.,carryingRutan'sspaceship.Ittook63minutestoreachthelaunchaltitudeof47,000feet.Oncethere,theWhiteKnightcrewpreparedtoreleasethespaceship.ThefierceaccelerationslammedMikeMelv
6、ill,thepilot,backinhisseat.HeputSpaceShipOneintoanearverticaltrajectory,until,asplanned,thefuelranout.Stillclimbinglikeaspentbullet,Melvillhopedtogainasmuchaltitudeaspossibletoreachspacebeforetheshipbeganfallingbacktoearth.Bythetimethespaceshipreachedtheendofitsclimb,itwas22
7、milesoffcourse.Butithad,justbarely,reachedanaltitudeofjustover62miles—theinternationallyrecognizedboundaryofspace.ItwasthenewsRutanhadbeenwaitingfor.FallingbacktoEarthfromanaltitudeof62miles,SpaceShipOne'stiltingwing,arevolutionaryinnovationcalledthefeather,causedtherocketpl
8、anetopositionitselfforarelativelybenignre-entryandturnedthespaceshipintoagl
