Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mother Ship

[hummer0328 6]

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-%2526-space/article/2008-07/virgin-galactic-rolls-out-mother-ship

White Knight 2 Unveiled: The White Knight 2, SpaceShipTwo's mother ship, greets the dawn with designer Burt Rutan and Virgin Galactic chief Richard Branson in Mojave, California. Photo by Virgin Galactic

Virgin Group head Sir Richard Branson unveiled the latest addition to his air- and spaceline fleet at the Mojave Airport in California today, accompanied by the craft's chief designer, Burt Rutan.

The White Knight 2 is a four-engine jet that will carry an 8-seat spaceship called SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of 48,000 feet so that the spaceship can drop off and fire its rocket engine for a brief run to suborbital space. Branson's Virgin Galactic hopes to begin regularly scheduled passenger service to space in 2010.

White Knight 2, Branson, and Rutan: Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson (left) and air- and spacecraft designer Burt Rutan wave from the cockpit of the White Knight 2. Photo by Michael Belfiore

Rutan's company Scaled Composites made history in 2004 with the world's first privately funded manned spaceflights by its three-seat SpaceShipOne, which was carried aloft by the original White Knight. The White Knight 2 features two fuselages, each with its own cabin, connected by a single continuous wing arching between them, where the spaceship will ride. With the wing span of a B-29 bomber, it is the largest all-carbon-fiber aircraft yet built.

On hand to christen the White Knight Two outside a Scaled hangar was Branson's mother, Eve. Not coincidentally, Eve is also the name of the mother ship. "If you're going to name a mother ship," Branson quipped to a gathering of perhaps two hundred reporters and dignitaries, including Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, "you might as well name it after your own mother."

White Knight 2, Eve, and Richard Branson: Eve Branson takes cover as her son Sir Richard christens the White Knight 2.Photo by Michael Belfiore

Eve Branson stood with her son beside the White Knight 2 as Sir Richard shook a bottle of Champagne and then hosed down a gaggle of reporters photographing the event as he opened it. When asked how she felt having an exotic new aircraft named after her, Eve replied, "I don't know what to say. But am I allowed to drink this?"

Kidding aside, Branson has serious aspirations for the White Knight 2. Besides carrying paying passengers to space, 270 of whom have ponied up $200,000 each for tickets or put down substantial deposits, Branson envisions White Knight 2 ferrying government, industrial, and academic researchers and their experiments into the realm of weightless flight on a regular basis. Future craft using the White Knight 2/SpaceShipTwo technology could also enable superfast travel from one point on the Earth to another.

The White Knight 2 will begin ground testing tomorrow, with flight testing expected to begin in the fall. SpaceShipTwo is still under construction, with flight testing pending the conclusion of an investigation into the causes of a test stand explosion that claimed the lives of three Scaled employees last summer.

Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn said today that the spaceship would not fly passengers until it was absolutely safe to do so. "Safety is our north star," he said. "Safety is crucial to us because Virgin is invested in four airlines, including Virgin America, in four continents.... Our name has become a byword for safety and innovative and efficient transportation solutions." That's a hard-won reputation the hugely profitable group of companies won't willingly squander.

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I remember seeing SpaceShipOne/WhiteKnight fly at AirVenture Oshkosh in 2004 before it headed to it's final resting place in the Smithsonian.  Man it was impressive.  Can't wait to see when SpaceShipTwo is revealed. 

[Easy Bakes 253]

very nice

Go Science 

[belfastuniguy 18]

I'm also rather pleased about this.

Over time the prices will come down, not by a vast amount, but it will become more and more affordable to travel to the edge of space and see the earth, I think that is one of the most beautiful things you would ever see.

This won't be the sole provider, others will join the bandwagon once Virgin has tested the waters as such. I forsee a great expansion in this 'travel' sector.

[hummer0328 6]

Exactly!  Tickets are $200,000 now, but once the waters are tested other companies will follow.  Once that happens the technology will only become cheaper and cheaper.  My guess is that in my lifetime (I'm 22) I will probably get to go into space. 

SpaceShipTwo is just the start.  I remember hearing Burt Rutan talking about SpaceShipThree back in 2004 at AirVenture Oshkosh (a huge airshow).  It's going to have orbital capability.

[Yoman3 5]

If I really wanted to go, I'd still save up for a ride on the Soyuz. I saw a documentary on Space Ship One, and well when it went to space, it just looked like it went really high, technically space of course. But if you really wanted to get the real feel of space I think you'd have to spend more than a minute.

[hummer0328 6]

Total flight time: 2.5 hours

Max Altitude: 68 miles(359,040 ft), 110 km

Max Speed: 2,600 mph (4,200 km/h)

Max Capacity: 6 Passengers, 2 Pilots

Cost of Initial 100 Tickets: $200,000

Cost after 1st 100 for 1st Year: $100,000

Cost after 1st Year: $20,000

Launch Site: Spaceport America, Sierra County, New Mexico, USA

Launch Site Cost: $200 million

Proposed Future Sites: Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and Scotland

Number of Spaceships: 5

Opening Date: Sometime in 2010

[connorc24 2]

Woah! Those renderings look awesome! Yay for Virgin!

[Smarty218 2]

Interplanetary airlines would be awesome... I wonder if that's the next step?