  urlLink From nature Melvill shot into space history early on Monday morning when he became the first pilot to top 100 kilometres (3238,000 feet), and earn his astronaut credentials, in a privately financed rocket. Tens of thousands of eyes, including those of SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan and financial backer Paul Allen, were glued to the contrail as it streaked towards the fringes of space.
Not everything went as planned. The rocket crested at around 120 metres (over the official boundary of suborbital space, but far lower than Rutan had hoped for) and strayed over 30 kilometres off course when it re-entered the atmosphere, a problem attributed to a failure in one of the flight control systems. The ship also touched down with a dent in its tail. 
