Virgin Galactic has reached the edge of space for the first time, in a milestone accomplishment for Richard Branson's space tourism endeavors.
The aerospace firm's SpaceShipTwo craft reached a boundary more than 50 miles above Earth on Thursday morning after blasting off on a critical flight test in the Mojave Desert.
To do this, the company had to push its rocket motor to the longest burn duration yet, 'resulting in us going higher than we have before.'
Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo mothership took off shortly after 10 a.m. (ET) from the Mojave airstrip carrying SpaceShipTwo.
According to the firm, SpaceShipTwo's rocket motor burned for 60 seconds during Thursday's test, bringing the craft to a final altitude of 51.4 miles (82.7 kilometers).
In addition to its pilots, the aircraft carried NASA payloads for the first time, in effort to bring it as close as possible to commercial weight.
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Virgin Galactic has reached the edge of space for the first time, in a milestone accomplishment for Richard Branson's space tourism endeavors. Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo mothership took off shortly after 10 a.m. (ET) from the Mojave airstrip carrying SpaceShipTwo
Over the course of roughly an hour after taking off, the pair climbed higher and higher in tandem, before eventually separating at more than 50,000 feet above the surface.
Pilots Mark ‘Forger’ Stucky and CJ Sturckow fired up SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor at 11 a.m., bringing the craft to Mach 1.4 speed seconds later.
In less than a minute, it achieved Mach 2.9 - or 2.9 times the speed of sound.
And, within a matter of seconds, the craft was at '250,000ft and rising,' hitting the 50-mile mark just 2 minutes after separation.
‘SpaceShipTwo, welcome to space,’ Virgin Galactic tweeted.
Branson shared a photo of himself 'on the flightline' as he watched from below. The founder has previously said his space tourism firm will carry passengers beyond orbit 'not too long after' this milestone - with him on the first flight.
The aerospace firm's SpaceShipTwo craft reached a boundary more than 50 miles above Earth on Thursday morning after blasting off on a critical flight test in the Mojave Desert. To do this, the company had to push its rocket motor to the longest burn duration yet, 'resulting in us going higher than we have before'
Over the course of roughly an hour after taking off, the pair climbed higher and higher in tandem, before eventually separating at more than 50,000 feet above the surface. WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo can be seen above taking off
Virgin Galactic was guarded about the details of its flight test ahead of takeoff.
But, shortly after 10 a.m., the firm tweeted that its WhiteKnightTwo cargo craft had launched carrying SpaceShipTwo.
‘WhiteKnightTwo is taking SpaceShipTwo to release altitude at which point SpaceShipTwo will be released and the rocket motor ignited,’ the firm announced from the Mojave Desert airstrip at 10:15 a.m.
About five minutes into the test flight, the firm confirmed the two craft had reached 28,000 feet and were ‘rising smoothly.’
Once the flight reached 30,000 feet, Virgin Galactic pilots performed a series of cabin checks. And, the firm said the ‘results are good.’
From then on, the two craft sailed smoothly upward for another several thousand feet before separation.
The Dec. 13 test marks SpaceShipTwo's longest burn duration yet, at 60 seconds.
This, as hoped, pushed the craft to a point Virgin considers to be the edge of space, at around 50 miles above the surface.
Branson shared a photo of himself 'on the flightline' as he watched from below. The founder has previously said his space tourism firm will carry passengers beyond orbit 'not too long after' this milestone - with him on the first flight
Pilots Mark ‘Forger’ Stucky and CJ Sturckow fired up SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor at 11 a.m., bringing the craft to Mach 1.4 speed seconds later. In less than a minute, it was at Mach 2.9 - or 2.9 times the speed of sound
'Our SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, is entering the next stage of testing,' Galactic said ahead of the milestone flight.
'During this phase of the flight program we will be expanding the envelope for altitude, air speed, loads, and thermal heating.
'We also plan to burn the rocket motor for durations which will see our pilots and spaceship reach a space altitude for the first time.
'Although this could happen as soon as the next flight, the nature of flight test means that it may take us a little longer to get to that milestone.'
At the time, Virgin did not specify what it means by 'space altitude,' but company officials have previously said they were using the altitude of 50 miles, or approximately 80 kilometers, used by NASA and the U.S. Air Force for awarding astronaut wings.
Richard Branson addresses the crowd moments after take off of Virgin Galactic's carrier airplane carrying a space tourism rocket plane toward space from Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California
Virgin Galactic, founded by Branson in 2004, is working to carry tourists on a brief journey to space, dozens of miles above the Earth's surface
'For Virgin Galactic, the major milestone that we perceive is the altitude at which NASA and Air Force folks get their astronaut wings, which is 50 miles,' George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said last month.
'For us and our customers, I think we'll be focused on 50 miles, at least at the start.'
Branson is in a race with SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to be the first to send paying tourists into space.
Virgin Galactic, which is charging £190,000 ($250,000) for a spot on one of its commercial flights, has previously said it would send passengers to space in 2019.
The multi-millionaire admitted earlier this year that the number of spurious claims he has made about Virgin Galactic flight dates was 'embarrassing'.
'Incremental flight test programs are by definition open-ended and, to a great extent, each test depends on the data from the test that precedes it,' Galactic said regarding this week's test.
'There is no guarantee that everything will work perfectly first time and, like all programs seeking to take bold steps, we will inevitably have times when things don't go as planned.'
The fledgling space firm also carried four research payloads that are part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program.
This will be Virgin Galactic's first mission for NASA and the space agency purchased flight services, the accommodation and ride, from Virgin Galactic for the payloads.
Virgin Galactic, founded by Branson in 2004, is working to carry tourists on a brief journey to space, dozens of miles above the Earth's surface.
WHAT ARE THE TOP ALTITUDES REACHED BY VIRGIN GALACTIC, BLUE HORIZONS AND SPACEX?
Three companies are leading the charge in commercial space travel as they race to get tourists beyond orbit.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's firm SpaceX, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are all vying to be the first companies to send up the first commercial space flight.
But while Sir Richard believes Musk is 'doing fantastically well' in getting cargo into space - including his own car - the real tussle is between the Virgin boss and Bezos.
Musk has reached dizzying heights with his numerous private space deliveries to the International Space Station at an altitude of around 1.4 million feet (408,000 metres), but is yet to fly any of his planned passenger-carrying craft.
Blue Origin flew its New Shepherd spacepod, which launches aboard a traditional rocket capsule, to an altitude of 351,000 feet (107,000 metres) during a test flight near Van Horn, Texas, on April 29 (pictured)
Virgin Galactic reached a top altitude of 170,800 feet (52,000 metres) during a test of its VSS Unity spacecraft, which has room for six passenger and is lifted toward space on a huge carrier aricraft, on May 29.
Eventually, the company wants to fly space tourists to an altitude of 360,890 feet (110,000 metres) going beyond the 328,000 feet (100,000 metres) defined boundary of space.
Blue Origin flew its New Shepherd spacepod, which launches aboard a traditional rocket capsule, to an altitude of 351,000 feet (107,000 metres) during a test flight near Van Horn, Texas, on April 29.
The reusable New Shepard rocket and spacecraft is intended to carry up to six space tourists, researchers and/or experiments on brief suborbital flights, the company has said.
Tourists will spend several minutes floating in zero gravity, aboard a spaceship that approaches or passes through the Karman line, the boundary of Earth's atmosphere and space, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) high.
For comparison, astronauts at the orbiting International Space Station fly some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
The company first promised to fly tourists into space by the start of 2009, but multiple delays and a fatal test flight crash in 2014 have pushed its first spaceflight back numerous times.
Plans call for six passengers and two pilots to ride the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity (pictured), which resembles a private jet. The VSS Unity will be attached to a carrier spacecraft - the WhiteKnightTwo - from which it will detach at around 49,000 feet (15,000 meters)
Virgin Galactic completed its first supersonic flight since the infamous crash, which killed one test pilot and severely injured another, earlier this year, bringing it closer to its goal of offering commercial spaceflight to the 600 patrons who have paid $250,000 for a ride.
Branson said 'ultimately' he would like to see the price fall to around £30,000 ($40,000) or £38,000 ($50,000) over the next ten years.
Plans call for six passengers and two pilots to ride the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, which resembles a private jet.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-reaches-the-edge-of-space-for-the-first-time-in-milestone-test/
Main photo article Virgin Galactic has reached the edge of space for the first time, in a milestone accomplishment for Richard Branson’s space tourism endeavors.
The aerospace firm’s SpaceShipTwo craft reached a boundary more than 50 miles above Earth on Thursday morning after blasting off on a ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/13/17/7390492-6492453-image-a-38_1544721770472.jpg
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