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SpaceShipOne
By Dan Linehan
Saturday March 5, 11AM
In April, 2003, a company called Scaled Composites lifted the veil of secrecy from a longtime research program and introduced SpaceShipOne to the world. With only fifteen test flights completed beforehand, SpaceShipOne captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004. And the age of commercial space travel took off... like a rocket. SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History chronicles the development of the world's first commercial manned space program-a program that includes an airborne launcher (White Knight), a spaceship (SpaceShipOne), rocket propulsion, avionics, simulator, and full ground support.
With ample illustrations, photographs, and behind-the-scenes information, SpaceShipOne provides a full picture of this highly secret project-from the conception and design to the deals that brought together Scaled Composites' Burt Rutan and Virgin Airlines' Sir Richard Branson to the plans for building a fleet of commercial suborbital spaceships (SpaceShipTwo) and launch aircraft (White Knight Two).
The story of SpaceShipOne combines the adventurous spirit of Charles Lindbergh, the entrepreneurial drive of Howard Hughes, and the urgency of the space race at the height of the Cold War.
Dan chronicles a key milestone in the race to take private citizens and private enterprise to space. It's the story of how a group of determined and passionate aerospace designers-and their financiers-pulled off one of the most remarkable accomplishments in our conquest of gravity.
Dan will be available after the presentation to sign his book SpaceShipOne: an Illustrated History
Presentation and book signing included with museum admission. For more on Dan and SpaceShipOne visit www.dslinehan.com
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