Private space travel has arrived: A rocket powered by a mixture of rubber and laughing gas soared 328,491 feet Monday to become the first privately funded vehicle to carry a person into space. Piloted by 63-year-old Michael W. Melvill, SpaceShipOne climbed into the record books by rising to new heights. With the suborbital flight that included 3 1/2 minutes of weightlessness, Melvill became the first human being to reach space ââ?¬â?? defined as about 62 miles above Earth ââ?¬â?? without any government funding or help, a feat that space enthusiasts said could usher in a new age of commercial space travel.