Flying a foam composite rocket ship powered by laughing gas and burning rubber, Mike Melvill took off faster than a bullet over a ramshackle airport in the desert Monday and overcame serious malfunctions to become the first astronaut to reach space in a mission entirely funded by private entrepreneurs. —William Booth —Starship Private Enterprise: Rocket Plane Becomes First Civilian Craft to Reach Space  (WashPost (registration, will expire))

I don’t like linking to The Washington Post anymore, since the site requires registrations and the links expire, but this is good writing, from the headline on.