Thursday, September 5, 2013

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Succeeds In Second Rocket-Powered Flight



SpaceShipTwo firing its rockets over the Mojave desert.
Earlier today, Virgin Galactic‘s SpaceShipTwo successfully flew under its own power for the second time, achieving a speed of mach 1.43 and successfully meeting all of its test objectives.
WhiteKnightTwo, the aircraft that carries SpaceShipTwo into the air, launched at 8 am PT. They reached an altitude of 46,000 feet. At that point, SpaceShipTwo separated from WhiteKnightTwo. The rocket engine was activated for a 20 second burn, pushing the ship past mach 1.4. The ship reached a maximum altitude of 69,000 feet.

During the flight, the company tested the spaceship’s supersonic aerodynamics and wing lift structures. In addition, they also tested the spaceship’s “feather mechanism” – in which the wings of the spaceship move to create wind resistance to slow down the ship while it’s descending. That test was also successful, and SpaceShipTwo landed without hitch at 9:25am PT.
The success of these tests paves the way for the company to start its primary business: sending commercial passengers into outer space (as well as a few science experiments.) The company’s first flights are scheduled for next year.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to have another major supersonic milestone under our belts as we move toward a 2014 start of commercial service,” said Virgin Galactic Founder Sir Richard Branson in a statement.
If you’re interested in taking a trip to outer space yourself, and you have a spare $250,000, you can book your flight now.
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Virgin Galactic has released a video of the flight, which you can watch below:


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