SpaceShipTwo

[tnt22]

Virgin Galactic‏Подлинная учетная запись @virgingalactic 7 мин. назад

#WhiteKnightTwo pilots, Mike "Sooch" Masucci and Nicola Pecile have landed VMS Eve safely, completing today's important test flight @MojaveAirport

[tnt22]

George Whitesides‏ @gtwhitesides 26 мин. назад

THAT WAS AWESOME! Congrats to the pilots, crew, ground crew and all the people who designed and built that beautiful ship. Look forward to doing it again!

[Olaf]

https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/981936005602144256

#WhiteKnightTwopilots, Mike "Sooch" Masucci and Nicola Pecile have landed VMS Eve safely, completing today's important test flight @MojaveAirport 

[tnt22]

Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 2 мин. назад

Spaceship Two PF05 reached 25.7 km apogee, in the stratosphere, after a 30s hybrid rocket burn. @virgingalactic what was the White Knight flight number?

[tnt22]

http://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/VSS-Unity-First-Powered-Flight

APRIL 5, 2018

VSS Unity First Powered Flight

A major step forward

We are delighted to report on a major step forward for Virgin Galactic today, as SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity safely and successfully completed her first supersonic, rocket-powered flight. After two years of extensive ground and atmospheric testing, the passing of this milestone marks the start of the final portion of Unity's flight test program.

The flight was also significant for Virgin Galactic's Mojave based, sister manufacturing organization, The Spaceship Company. Unity is the first vehicle to be built from scratch for Virgin Galactic by The Spaceship Company's talented team of aerospace engineers and technicians. They were justifiably proud today to be a part of this compelling demonstration of their capabilities in action.

VSS Unity benefits from all the data and lessons gathered from the test program of her predecessor vehicle, VSS Enterprise. Today's flight saw an envelope expansion for the program as a whole in terms of rocket burn duration, speed and altitude achieved.

VSS Unity took off this morning into clear Mojave skies at 8:02am with Mark "Forger" Stucky and Dave Mackay in the cockpit, attached to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, piloted today by Mike Masucci and Nicola Pecile.

The mated vehicles climbed to a launch altitude of around 46,500ft over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and while pointing back at Mojave, Eve executed a clean release of Unity. After a few seconds, Unity's rocket motor was brought to life and the pilots aimed the spaceship upwards into an 80 degree climb, accelerating to Mach 1.87 during the 30 seconds of rocket burn. The hybrid (nitrous oxide / HTPB compound) rocket motor, which was designed, built and tested by The Spaceship Company, powered Unity today through the transonic range and into supersonic flight for the first time.

On rocket shutdown, Unity continued an upwards coast to an apogee of 84,271 feet before readying for the downhill return. At this stage, the pilots raised the vehicle's tail booms to a 60 degree angle to the fuselage, into the 'feathered' configuration. This unique design feature, which is key to a reliable and repeatable re-entry capability for a winged vehicle, incorporates the additional safety mechanisms adopted after the 2014 VSS Enterprise test flight accident.

At around 50,000ft, the tail-booms were lowered again and, while jettisoning the remaining oxidizer, Unity turned towards Mojave for the glide home and a smooth runway landing.

The flight has generated valuable data on flight, motor and vehicle performance which our engineers will be reviewing. It also marks a key moment for the test flight program, entering now the exciting phase of powered flight and the expansion to full duration rocket burns. While we celebrate that achievement, the team remains focused on the challenging tasks which still lie ahead.

Congratulations to our teams at Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company for a job well done today - and in recognition of their pursuit to open space and change the world for good.

[tnt22]

Virgin Galactic‏Подлинная учетная запись @virgingalactic 5 мин. назад

VSS Unity completed her first supersonic, rocket-powered flight this morning in Mojave, California. Another great test flight, another step closer to being #NMReady

[tnt22]

How to Build a Spaceship | Introduction

The Spaceship Company

Опубликовано: 5 апр. 2018 г.

Welcome to the introductory video in our new series showing how The Spaceship Company...builds Spaceships.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=zhrKfi8mdwchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=zhrKfi8mdwc (3:56)

[tnt22]

OVERVIEW | Episode 2: Mission Control

Virgin Galactic

Опубликовано: 2 апр. 2018 г.

Successful Spaceflight Operations are a result of seamless teamwork in the air, on the ground, and in between. Our Mojave-based Mission Control team measures up to the best in the world. In this video let us take you behind the doors (and screens!) of our control room in the second episode of our Overview Series.

 (4:21)

[tnt22]

VSS Unity First Powered Flight

Virgin Galactic

Опубликовано: 5 апр. 2018 г.

VSS Unity flew beautifully, going supersonic for the first time under rocket power in Mojave, California on 5th April, 2018.

 (1:02)

[Pirat5]

На дворе 2100й год.
Новость: Ричард Бренсон обещает туристический полёт уже в следующем году!

[tnt22]

Elevating Unity - Episode 4: First Rocket-Powered Flight

Virgin Galactic

Опубликовано: 6 апр. 2018 г.

Experience the first rocket-powered, supersonic flight through the eyes of Virgin Galactic Chief Pilot, Dave Mackay

 (4:49)

[triage]

 https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/04/spaceshiptwo-2018-test-campaign-powered-flight/
...
 As a result, Unity was fitted with the additional hardware necessary for testing. The added mass reduces the maximum apogee to around 80 kilometers.
While you shouldn't expect to see the Kármán line exceeded during rocket-powered tests, Virgin Galactic is confident the weight can be reduced after testing is complete.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/06/photos-vss-unitys-first-powered-test-flight/

Photos: VSS Unity's first powered test flight
April 6, 2018 | Stephen Clark

These images captured by photographer Gene Blevins show Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo space plane making its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday over California's Mojave Desert, then gliding back to a runway landing.

Спойлер

The SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, dropping from the belly of a carrier jet at 9:01 a.m. PDT (12:01 p.m. EDT; 1601 GMT) Thursday over the Mojave Desert in California. With two pilots at the controls, VSS Unity fired its hybrid rocket motor for 30 seconds, reaching an altitude of more than 84,000 feet and a top speed of Mach 1.87, nearly twice the speed of sound.

It was the first rocket-powered flight for VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo vehicle, after seven previous glide test flights. The VSS Unity returned to the Mojave Air and Space Port for a runway landing.

VSS Unity replaces VSS Enterprise, a rocket plane destroyed in an October 2014 crash that killed one pilot and injured another.

For details on Thursday's test flight, read our full story.


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News


Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 4 ч. назад

In a CNBC interview, Richard Branson says the next SpaceShipTwo test flight is planned for the next 3-4 weeks. (He says the previous one was about 10 days ago, when in fact it was more than 3 weeks ago, though.) https://cnb.cx/2HB2eEN 

[tnt22]

OVERVIEW | Episode 3: Rocket Motor

Virgin Galactic

Опубликовано: 11 мая 2018 г.

The creation of a hybrid rocket motor system for SpaceShipTwo represented a significant engineering challenge. We are particularly proud that we designed and now test and manufacture this world class motor in house. Come meet the team behind the burn...the Rocket Guys.

(3:50)

[Oleg]

Pirat5 пишет:
На дворе 2100й год.
Новость: Ричард Бренсон обещает туристический полёт уже в следующем году!

Билет на Марс - 200 000$
Билет на Луну - 2 000$
Аттракцион Бренсона - 2$

[Чебурашка]

Серия про "Space Ship Two" из цикла "Расследования авиационных катастроф" National Geographics (сезон 18 ). Кто не видел.

[Olaf]

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39372.msg1826089#msg1826089

BBC News reporting 2nd flight of VSS Unity is today 29th May 2018.

A quick scan on the interweb doesn't reveal any other details

[tnt22]

Virgin Galactic‏Подлинная учетная запись @virgingalactic 12 мин. назад

Our team is prepping for a #SpaceShipTwo flight test today

[tnt22]

TheSpaceshipCompany‏Подлинная учетная запись @TheSpaceshipCo 6 мин. назад

It's an exciting morning here @MojaveAirport while the crew preps for a #SpaceShipTwo flight test today.