Page 1 of 2 |
[ 22 posts ] |
SpaceShipTwo Info
Author | Message |
---|---|
Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:52 am
Posts: 1401 Location: Exeter, Devon, England ![]() |
Will Whitehorn of Virgin Galactic announced that SpaceShipTwo will be unveiled and flown for the first time on December 7. Presumably that flight will be a glide test, not a powered flight.
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/200 ... -is-today/ Woo! |
Back to top |
![]() ![]() |
Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:22 pm
Posts: 266 ![]() |
There's no way that the first flight will be a glide test. It will be captive carry up and down.
I found it entertaining that Alan pointed out on Mojave Skies that Oshkosh won't be the first appearance of WK2 at an airshow, since they did a fly by, landing, and taxi past this month's Plane Crazy, the show put on by the Mojave Transportation Museum. |
Back to top |
![]() |
Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:52 am
Posts: 1401 Location: Exeter, Devon, England ![]() |
The entire team are busy busy busy preparing for the SpaceShipTwo unveiling on 7th December.
http://twitter.com/Virgin_Galactic/status/4858192776 SWEEEEET! |
Back to top |
![]() ![]() |
Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:52 am
Posts: 1401 Location: Exeter, Devon, England ![]() |
Another interiew with Sir Rich here
http://online.wsj.com/video/viewpoints- ... 2E8B8.html |
Back to top |
![]() ![]() |
Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:52 am
Posts: 1401 Location: Exeter, Devon, England ![]() |
|
Back to top |
![]() ![]() |
Moderator ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:01 am
Posts: 766 Location: New Zealand ![]() |
Its a big one innit.
_________________ What goes up better doggone well stay up! - Morgan Gravitronics, Company Slogan. |
Back to top |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Space Walker ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:30 am
Posts: 236 Location: Perth, Western Australia ![]() |
_________________ Beancounter from Downunder |
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Walker ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:30 am
Posts: 236 Location: Perth, Western Australia ![]() |
Also there's flight updates on the Scaled Composites website:
http://www.scaled.com/projects/model_339_spaceshiptwo http://www.scaled.com/projects/model_348_whiteknighttwo Cheers _________________ Beancounter from Downunder |
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:51 am
Posts: 455 Location: Vienna, Austria, Europe, Earth ![]() |
beancounter wrote: I think it stops being interesting after reading this: Quote: However the UK firm came to the conclusion that the volume within which SS2 carries its solid rocket motor and nitrous oxide supply could equally hold a liquid chemical propulsion system capable of providing enough thrust for long enough for a horizontal take-off and ascent to 50,000ft and above without the need for WK2 ~15 kilometers isn't that impressive and WAY below the 100 km official space boundary. Most fighter aircraft can reach or surpass that altitude. People sometimes forget, that suborbital doesn't automatically mean into space. Heck, even if I throw a stone I could call it suborbital :p _________________ pride comes before a fall |
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Walker ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:30 am
Posts: 236 Location: Perth, Western Australia ![]() |
Marcus Zottl wrote: beancounter wrote: I think it stops being interesting after reading this: Quote: However the UK firm came to the conclusion that the volume within which SS2 carries its solid rocket motor and nitrous oxide supply could equally hold a liquid chemical propulsion system capable of providing enough thrust for long enough for a horizontal take-off and ascent to 50,000ft and above without the need for WK2 ~15 kilometers isn't that impressive and WAY below the 100 km official space boundary. Most fighter aircraft can reach or surpass that altitude. People sometimes forget, that suborbital doesn't automatically mean into space. Heck, even if I throw a stone I could call it suborbital :p The 'interesting' term is 'above'. There's no indication that it's only up to 50,000 feet. I think the sub-orbital mark is 62km and therefore if they are saying that SS2 could be sub-orbital on its own without WK2, then isn't it reasonable to suppose that it can make this altitude in this context ![]() ![]() _________________ Beancounter from Downunder |
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:47 am
Posts: 521 Location: Science Park, Cambridge, UK ![]() |
Think your height figure is wrong - you mean 100km, 62 miles.
|
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:51 am
Posts: 455 Location: Vienna, Austria, Europe, Earth ![]() |
Hi, actually I wanted to post that in the morning, but just as I hit "Submit", the forum was unfortunately unreachable.
So here is my post - with a little bit delay ![]() Quote: it's ~62 miles or ~100 km if you want to consider it as space tourism. 62 km is way below the space boundary and the stated 50000+ feet is a "joke" in comparison. That's only about 15 km (which is a "whopping" 2 km above the service ceiling of an Airbus A380 btw ![]() _________________ pride comes before a fall |
Back to top |
![]() |
Spaceflight Participant ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:35 am
Posts: 59 ![]() |
Has anyone heard if they sorted out the composite rocket motor problems? I haven't seen a word on rocket testing, only airplane testing so far.
_________________ The Magic Helmet |
Back to top |
![]() |
Rocket Constructor ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:41 pm
Posts: 9 ![]() |
So- does that mean they might be able to achieve orbit if they had a liquid fueled rocket and did a launch from WK2? Just a thought.
|
Back to top |
![]() |
Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:22 pm
Posts: 266 ![]() |
If it was a high performance vehicle, yes, near SSTO is possible. It'd probably be LOX/hydrogen, and wouldn't carry much payload other than itself.
Their stated plan is to do a two stage hybrid off the plane, which wouldn't be very effective. The SpaceShipTwo that they carry around on WK2 doesn't even have a propellant tank in it, by the way. |
Back to top |
![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Page 1 of 2 |
[ 22 posts ] |
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests |