SOURCE: Associated Press

Virgin Galactic’s space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo completed its first solo glide flight in October, moving plans to fly paying passengers closer to reality.

SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft by its mothership to an altitude of 45,000 feet and released over the Mojave Desert. After the separation, SpaceShipTwo, manned by two pilots, flew freely for 11 minutes before landing at an airport runway followed by the mothership.

The entire test flight lasted about 25 minutes.

“It flew beautifully,” said Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides.

The six-passenger SpaceShipTwo is undergoing rigorous testing before it can carry tourists to space. In the latest test, SpaceShipTwo did not fire its rocket engine to climb to space.

Until now, SpaceShipTwo has flown attached to the wing of its special jet-powered mothership dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Sunday was the first time the spaceship flew on its own.

The news was hailed by space tourism advocates.

The “flight marks another key milestone towards opening the space frontier for private individuals, researchers, and explorers,” John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said in a statement.

Whitesides said SpaceShipTwo will make a series of additional glide flights before rocketing to space.

SpaceShipTwo, built by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, is based on a prototype that won a $10 million prize in 2004 for being the first manned private rocket to reach space.

The news was hailed by space tourism advocates.

The “flight marks another key milestone towards opening the space frontier for private individuals, researchers, and explorers,” John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said in a statement.

Whitesides said SpaceShipTwo will make a series of additional glide flights before rocketing to space.

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MY TAKE: I have to wonder: once folks to start paying to go up in space on this aircraft, what will they have to wear? I’m sure sorority apparel is out of the question, but are paying customers going to be able to go up into space wearing special space suits? If so, what will these look like and who how much will they cost? Greek clothes are not going to work, I’m aware. Carhartt clothing is an ideal company to select for making the suits. They already make flame resistant clothing for most of the service industry and police and fire units, why not space suits?

What will paying passengers be allowed to take with them? Free PS3 download games likely won’t be provided. But that sparks an idea for a new PS3 download: why not create a game for kids that simulates the first trip out to space?

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