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Virgin Galactic Completes 1st Powered Test Flight Since Fatal 2014 Crash
Space.com | ^
| April 5, 2018 02:57pm ET
| Douglas Messier,
Posted on 04/05/2018 6:54:09 PM PDT by BenLurkin
MOJAVE, Calif. — Virgin Galactic made a triumphant return to powered flight today (April 5) with a successful test of the company's SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity suborbital vehicle. It was the company's first powered flight in nearly 3.5 years, following the tragic loss of SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise on Oct 31, 2014.
During the descent, the crew deployed SpaceShipTwo's feather system, which reconfigures the ship into a high-drag shuttlecock by moving its twin tail booms. The feather will be used to soften the vehicle's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere during spaceflight.
"@virgingalactic back on track,ꞌꞌ Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson tweeted after today's test. "Successful powered flight, Mach 1.6. Data review to come, then on to the next flight. Space feels tantalizingly close now."
...
Eventually, the test program will move down to Spaceport America in New Mexico, where Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant.
TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: richardbranson; spaceshiptwo; virgingalactic
Virgin Galactic's carrier plane, the VMS Eve, is seen during preflight preparations for the first powered test flight of the VSS Unity space plane at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California on April 5, 2018. The test flight did not aim to reach space.
Credit: Virgin Galactic
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Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo, the VSS Unity, performed its first rocket-powered test flight over California's Mojave Desert on April 5, 2018. The test flight did not aim to reach space.
Credit: Virgin Galactic/www.MarsScientific.com & Trumbull Studios
1
posted on
04/05/2018 6:54:09 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
To: BenLurkin
Wow! They kept the feathered system. I wondered if they might not change that to something (and I would not know nor hazard a guess) that is fixed but performs the same function.
2
posted on
04/05/2018 7:11:33 PM PDT
by
BradyLS
(DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
To: BradyLS
I also read that a Saudi prince invested a billion in Virgin Galactic within the last year. Bet VG were glad for that infusion to get back in the game!
3
posted on
04/05/2018 7:13:48 PM PDT
by
BradyLS
(DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
To: BradyLS
One more mishap and the concept will be discarded, I suspect.
4
posted on
04/05/2018 7:25:57 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
To: BenLurkin
Hope there is a computer or some sort of fail-safe device to prevent the feather system from deploying too soon or out of sequence. But I think you’re right. Another snafu will probably spell the end of it.
5
posted on
04/05/2018 7:56:19 PM PDT
by
BradyLS
(DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
6
posted on
04/05/2018 9:59:52 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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