Java programmer wins space flight
A Java programmer from San Jose, California, has won an Oracle competition to fly in a sub-orbital spacecraft.
A Java programmer from San Jose, California, has won an Oracle competition to fly in a sub-orbital spacecraft.
Brian Emmett was one of 10,000 programmers who entered the competition to join aircraft designer Burt Rutan on his next sub-orbital flight.
The 30-year-old programmer is scheduled to fly in Rutan’s SpaceShipTwo within the next three years.
Rutan designed SpaceShipOne, which reached an altitude of 62 miles twice last October. Sixty-two miles is 10 times higher than the highest-flying commercial airliner.
The forthcoming flight will be high enough to allow Emmett to see the curvature of the Earth's surface.
Emmett was already a space enthusiast before he won the competition.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is expected to help finance SpaceShipTwo.
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