SPACESHIPONE PILOT MELVILL WALKS TO ROCKET PLANE BEFORE HIS HISTORIC FLIGHT.
SpaceShipOne pilot Michael Melvill walks with his flight gear before the historic flight of one of the world's first privately funded rocket planes to soar beyond Earth's atmosphere, at the Mojave Airport in California, June 21, 2004. SpaceShipOne, designed by legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan and funded by billionaire Paul Allen, will fly to a height of 62 miles officially make test pilot Michael Melvill an astronaut. REUTERS/POOL REUTERS MB/GN
