12/4/2023 0 Comments Spaceship designs![]() The new design is more modular and should bring scalability and improved performance to Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight program, according to company officials. ![]() SpaceShip III is meant to help overcome some of the problems of its predecessor. Though SpaceShipTwo has had recent success, the craft has been beset with issues in the past, resulting in the company missing a number of publicly announced test flights. After a few moments, the spaceplane’s rocket engine allow it to climb above Earth’s atmosphere and into suborbital space. This spaceflight system sees the spaceplane carried aloft to roughly 50,000 feet in elevation before being dropped from the mothership. VSS Imagine, like the other spacecraft in Virgin’s fleet, will launch from beneath a uniquely designed carrier aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo. It’s a spaceplane clad with a mirror-like finish that’s intended to carry six passengers and two pilots just beyond the edge of space. In late March, Virgin Galactic revealed the new design for its sleek SpaceShip III prototype, called VSS Imagine. And that future spaceship is bright and shiny. Virgin’s next stepĮarlier this year, thousands of paying space tourists got a glimpse at what will be their ride to the final frontier. And though SpaceShipTwo will likely take paying customers to space in the coming years, it’s not the only spacecraft the company plans to fly. Also known as SpaceShipTwo, this second iteration of the company’s commercial craft has been the workhorse that’s proven to the FAA that Virgin Galactic is ready to begin commercial operations. VSS Unity has been through a lot over the past year - from technical issues to unexpected groundings to, most recently, a nominal spaceflight on May 22. Though considered a test flight, this mission will serve to globally showcase what the astronaut experience will be like when the company begins flying tourists to space as early as 2022. In just a few short days on July 11, billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson, aims to officially become “Astronaut 001” when he flies to the edge of space aboard the company’s FAA-licensed spaceplane, VSS Unity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |