OFF INTO SPACE: The red, white and blue SpaceShipOne is a 25-foot-long rocket-powered craft able to accommodate three people. Carried aloft by a Rutan-designed twin-engine jet called the White Knight, SpaceShipOne made its first powered flight out of Mojave Airport in December 2003 and has since topped 1,000 mph.

Aerospace observers estimate the private spaceship project's cost between $20 million to $30 million.

(L) White Knight carrying SpaceShipOne over a field of windmills in Mojave, California.

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