Virgin Galactic's Space-Grazing Aircraft Is Ready for Liftoff

From Wired Top Stories:

Fifty thousand feet over the California desert, the world is a vast expanse of blue with a drab carpet of khaki far, far below. Pilot Peter Siebold sets the craft's trim to 18 degrees, pushes the stick forward, and counts down: "Three. Two. One. Release." The mother ship rises above us as we drift downward for a few seconds. Siebold pulls the yoke back and flips a toggle on the center console. Then: Bang! The hybrid rocket motor ignites and we're a missile shooting toward the stars at more than three times the speed of sound.

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