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A privately financed rocket plane took its pilot to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere Monday, the first time a commercial venture has put a manned craft into space. SpaceShipOne landed at an airstrip in the Mojave Desert after reaching an altitude of more than 60 miles. The project is funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.

Dave Smith, a pioneer of the synthesizer, revolutionized pop music in the 1980s. David Bowie and Madonna are among the legions who used his Prophet 5 synthesizer. Smith died last week at age 72.

John Williams' score was, true to form, unforgettable — as Jeff Goldblum remembers in an interview with NPR.

The critically acclaimed rock group Band of Horses has roots in South Carolina. But the band formed, made its name and recorded its first CD in Seattle. Now its members are back in the Palmetto State, and back with a new album called Cease to Begin.

Ballet dancer Carlos Acosta is known for powerful leaps that make him seem to fly. Those leaps have earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov. He grew up in a poor neighborhood outside Havana. How that boy became a man who dances with grace and power is the subject of Acosta's memoir, No Way Home.

In Diary of a Wimpy Kid by author and illustrator Jeff Kinney, the most mundane details of a middle school student's life are uproarious. Kinney's illustrated diaries remind readers about the dramas of junior high.

Quetzal has spent two decades playing the soundtrack of its East L.A. neighborhoods: an evolving mash-up of Mexican son jarocho, low-rider oldies, cumbia, boleros, rock and blues.

Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn break down the components of their electro-folk sound and share songs by some of the other artists who've inspired them.

In honor of Valentine's Day, we asked for your ideal romantic songs. On this week's All Songs Considered, we count down the 10 most popular tunes that make you swoon.

Hear five pioneering examples of women who composed for and directed their own groups.