NEW MEXICO : Reusable Rocket Makes 3rd Flight

The rocket burst into the air, zipped up to 10,300 feet, moved sideways, then landed standing up--all in just over two minutes. It was the third successful test flight for the Clipper Graham, a 42-foot-tall reusable prototype that may eventually replace the space shuttle. “We’re rockin’ and rollin’,” said Pete Conrad, a former Apollo astronaut and the Clipper’s flight manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp., which is developing the rocket. The unmanned rocket ascended at 300 feet per second, moved 550 feet laterally and then back toward the launch site for 200 feet before descending to its landing pad. The test flight was held at White Sands Missile Range in south-central New Mexico.