Virgin Galactic spacecraft makes maiden crewed flight

[EagleOne]

A company working to send tourists on suborbital flights, says it has tested its spacecraft with a crew for the first time.

Virgin Galactic says the craft remained attached to a specially designed airplane throughout a six-hour flight over California's Mojave desert Thursday.

On its website, the company congratulated the crew and said "Objectives achieved." It says the two crew members evaluated all of the spaceship's systems and functions.

Virgin Galactic says the flight test program will run through 2011 before it starts commercial operations

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article520510.ece