Sir Richard Branson unveils Space Plane

Virgin Galactic unveils space-plane model

By DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A select group of rich tourists may be blasting into space within a few years in a craft that looks like a cross between a corporate jet and something out of science fiction.

British billionaire Richard Branson and the aerospace designer Burt Rutan unveiled a model Wednesday of SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle they hope will be able to take passengers about 62 miles above Earth for the fun of it, with test flights possibly beginning this year.

“Breathtakingly beautiful” was Branson’s assessment of the ship being built in the Mojave Desert.

At the American Museum of Natural History, the pair also showed off a model of the four-engine jet that will help launch the craft into space.

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So, casual trips to the Moon are a reality now? What next? Going to work via helicopter? Getting a robot maid named Rosie?