First Private-Sector Spaceship Rockets Into History ; Advances Dream of Giving Tourists 'Mind-Blowing Experience'

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A rocket plane flown by a 62-year-old pilot soared more than 62 miles above Earth yesterday before gliding back safely to a runway in California's Mojave Desert in the first privately financed manned spaceflight.

"It was a mind-blowing experience," test pilot Michael W. Melvill said in a televised news briefing after his venture into space. "The Earth is so beautiful."

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First Private-Sector Spaceship Rockets Into History ; Advances Dream of Giving Tourists 'Mind-Blowing Experience'

Seeing Earth from outside the atmosphere was "almost a religious experience," said Mr. Melvill, who reached an altitude of 328,491 feet or 62.21 miles, about 10 times as high as commer...

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