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1、Unit2ThenewspaceraceAplantobuildtheworld'sfirstairportforlaunchingcommercialspacecraftinNewMexicoisthelatestdevelopmentinthenewspacerace,araceamongprivatecompaniesandbillionaireentrepreneurstocarrypayingpassengersintospaceandtokick-startanewindustry,astrotourism.Themanwhois
2、leadingtheracemaynotbefamiliartoyou,buttoastronauts,pilots,andaeronauticalengineers–basicallytoanyonewhoknowsanythingaboutaircraftdesign–BurtRutanisalegend,anaeronauticalengineerwhoselatestaircraftistheworld'sfirstprivatespaceship.Ashetoldwhenhefirstmethimalittleoverayearag
3、o,ifhisideaflies,somedayspacetravelmaybecheapenoughandsafeenoughforordinarypeopletogowhereonlyastronautshavegonebefore.TheWhiteKnightisaratherunusuallookingaircraft,builtjustforthepurposeofcarryingarocketplanecalledSpaceShipOne,thefirstspacecraftbuiltbyprivateenterprise.Whi
4、teKnightandSpaceShipOnearethelatestcreationsofBurtRutan.They'repartofhisdreamtodevelopacommercialtravelbusinessinspace."Therewillbeanewindustry.Andwearejustnowinabeginning.Iwillpredictthatin12or15years,therewillbetensofthousands,maybeevenhundredsofthousandsofpeoplethatfly,a
5、ndseethatblacksky,"saysRutan.OnJune21,2004,WhiteKnighttookofffromanairstripinMojave,Calif.,carryingRutan'sspaceship.Ittook63minutestoreachthelaunchaltitudeof47,000feet.Oncethere,theWhiteKnightcrewpreparedtoreleasethespaceshipone.ThefierceaccelerationslammedMikeMelvill,thepi
6、lot,backinhisseat.HeputSpaceShipOneintoanearverticaltrajectory,until,asplanned,thefuelranout.Stillclimbinglikeaspentbullet,Melvillhopedtogainasmuchaltitudeaspossibletoreachspacebeforetheshipbeganfallingbacktoearth.Bythetimethespaceshiponereachedtheendofitsclimb,itwas22miles
7、offcourse.Butithad,justbarely,reachedanaltitudeofjustover62miles--theinternationallyrecognizedboundaryofspace.ItwasthenewsRutanhadbeenwaitingfor.FallingbacktoEarthfromanaltitudeof62miles,SpaceShipOne'stiltingwing,arevolutionaryinnovationcalledthefeather,causedtherocketplane
8、topositionitselfforarelativelybenignre-entryandturnedthespaceshipintoaglider.Space
