SpaceShipOne Breaks Sound Barrier

http://tinyurl.com/29r5l

At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was
climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near 1.2 Mach (930 mph).

Binnie continued the maneuver to a vertical climb, achieving zero
speed at an altitude of 68,000 feet. He then configured the ship in
its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will
experience when it enters the atmosphere after a sub-orbital space
flight.

At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating
the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space
flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes.