What if you could build a spaceship in your garage and win $10 million?

The Day SpaceShipOne Won the X Prize!

A homemade rocket plane soared to space twice in one week — and changed everything!

A homemade rocket plane won $10 million by flying to space twice in two weeks!

On October 4, 2004, a strange-looking white rocket plane named SpaceShipOne blasted off into the sky above California's Mojave Desert. But this wasn't a NASA mission — it was built by a small team of dreamers who wanted to prove that ANYONE could reach space!

Here's the crazy challenge: To win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, SpaceShipOne had to fly to the edge of space (62 miles up!) not once, but TWICE in just two weeks. And guess what? Pilot Brian Binnie did it!

The spacecraft was carried up by a special airplane called White Knight. At about 47,000 feet, SpaceShipOne detached and — WHOOSH! — fired its rocket engine, zooming straight up at three times the speed of sound! Brian reached 69.6 miles high, where he could see the curve of Earth and the blackness of space.

What made this flight extra special? It happened exactly 47 years after Sputnik, the first satellite, launched into orbit. Space history was repeating itself!

💡 SpaceShipOne's rocket motor burned rubber and laughing gas — yes, the same stuff dentists use! The rubber came from the soles of hiking boots!