Virgin Galactic First Space Flight - VSS Unity

History has been made and a long-anticipated dream realised in Mojave, CA, today as Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, landed from her maiden spaceflight to cheers from Richard Branson and the teams from Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company.

Not only is this the first human spaceflight to be launched from American soil since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, but the very first time that a crewed vehicle built for commercial, passenger service, has reached space.

The historic achievement has been recognised by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who announced today that early next year they will present pilots Mark “Forger” Stucky and Frederick “CJ” Sturckow with FAA Commercial Astronaut Wings at a ceremony in Washington DC. CJ, as a four-time Space Shuttle pilot, will become the only person to have been awarded NASA and FAA wings.

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read more here: [link to www.virgingalactic.com (secure)]

HOPEFULLY BRANSON IS ON AT AND IT CRASHES HARD SICK OF THE SHIT VIRGIN MEDIA TV AND INTERNET SERVICE AND THE QUEUES AT THE VIRGIN GYM CARPARK THE CUNT!

That's the way to do it, those straight up shots use mega fuel.

Last Edited by Victor Vectors on 12/14/2018 04:53 PM

Pretty neat, so it is high up but is it in actual space? could it go to the ISS for example?

I ask cos it doesn't look equipped for re-entry like the shuttle was?

Last Edited by curry nosher on 12/14/2018 04:48 PM

I wish nothing bad on him. I have met him in person back when he had the Formula 1 team. I went on board his Necker Belle yacht. Nice chap, he just lives in a different world.

I would not sponsor his project even if I had the money. I am sure he already has a line-up of candidates for his little ships.

I would book an Edge of Space flight on Mig-29 or a Mig 31 in Russia for much less than 250K with near zero accident risk where I would not have to deal with a bunch of people.

[link to www.flyfighterjet.com (secure)]

Airbus will have their own space plane in a not too distant future. They can certainly be trusted. They have the experience so do the Russians.

[link to www.space.com (secure)]

It's a sub-orbital vehicle only, so no. To go to ISS it would need to be capable of attaining orbit which requires the vehicle to reach speeds of about 7.5 km/s horizontal velocity. A sub-orbital launcher like this just goes straight up for the maximum altitude it can achieve and then free falls back to earth.

"A sub-orbital launcher like this just goes straight up?" How? Wasn't it launched from an aircraft at altitude?

Last Edited by Victor Vectors on 12/14/2018 04:56 PM

Not possible and it's not what it's meant for anyway. The Virgin ships is a suborbital aircraft.

The International Space Station flies with a perigee of 403 km (250 mi) and an apogee of 408 km (254 mi).

The station is serviced by a variety of visiting spacecraft: the Russian Soyuz (human flights) and Progress, the American Dragon and Cygnus, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle and formerly the American Space Shuttle (human flights) and the European Automated Transfer Vehicle.

Virgin space tourism ships will be flying at an altitude a bit higher than 80 km for a relatively short duration.

Amazing views!



Last Edited by Concorde Warrior F-BVFA on 12/14/2018 04:59 PM

Yes, and when it is launched it pitches straight up (more or less).

Did they go high enough to prove the Earth is flat?

Thanks to whoever pined the thread and thanks to the others for participating.

A question for Mut... Are you going to fly on the Virgin Galatic Spaceship Two?

Ah, still super cool though and i would have a trip if i could lol. Cheers for explanation and Astro

"we're going to space"

more like, we're going really high into the atmosphere

No, I would much rather ride in Blue Origin's New Shepard. I much prefer the idea of having a solid rocket motor ready to kick me off the booster in the blink of an eye if anything goes wrong during any phase of the ascent. The untimely demise of the VSS Enterprise and Michael Alsbury is a perfect example of what I feared the moment it began flying and it sits in stark contrast to a "successful failure" like Soyuz MS-10. Maybe it'll never happen again, I certainly hope it won't, but I'd rather be in a capsule with true abort capability.

Behind all of his money and fame stands a decent bloke, I used to work for Virgin Atlantic, absolute pleasure working for the man.

Mig-29 can do some serious vertical climb!



[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Needs the factory pilot with it!





Mig-31 i want!



[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Quite some powerful hairdryers!

Are you saying the aircraft "White Knight Two" carrying "SpaceShipTwo" went nearly straight up or "SpaceShipTwo" nearly went straight up or maybe both?

I was trying to find White Knight Two Vertical Speed but had no luck.

Last Edited by Victor Vectors on 12/14/2018 05:33 PM

I saw a life size mock-up I did not see the real ship. I am not sure how many passengers it can take on board and what kind of flights it can perform, how long it can stay at sub-orbital heights and all.

I will have to check. Chris Bergin's forum has all these details.

It's the SpaceShip Two that goes straight up. The White Knight carrier stays levelled.

I am not sure at what altitude SpaceShip Two is fired. They probably tell in the Virgin Galactic page I posted with the first post.

And what exactly are the gee forces if a solid rocket kicks you off in an ejection? Sounds like it could break somebodies neck.

Didn't orbit; doesn't count. All they did was pull an Alan Shepard -- 60 years later.

I am not sure how the Blue Origin works. Mut will probably tell you.

space.... lol

Personally i wish they would just do the hard thing and design a non rocket propulsion that has the power to easily fly into space with no tricks or multiple propulsion modes.

More wasted money and resources of the wealthy and privileged...

I remember Alan Shepard's flight on the family's fat old Black and White TV back in 1961. I was 10. I thought Yuri Gagarin was much nicer looking!

Think of all the carbon wasted to send a craft into space for no reason. They didn't even do a science experiment like see if ants can sort tiny screws in microgravity.

10 g max. Uncomfortable and you might even pass out for a bit, but as long as you're reasonably healthy you'll live.
[link to www.cnbc.com (secure)]
The crew seats are heavily reclined so that you're taking the g-forces horizontally through your body, which is ideal. It's not going to break your neck, but it will keep you alive in the event of an emergency with the rocket.

Ironically this is why Blue Origin call their own suborbital rocket the "New Shepard." Their first orbital rocket will be named the "New Glenn." For extra space nerd trivia, I believe they paint turtles on the side of the New Shepard for every flight it makes. I still think that's a reference to the "Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles."

Last Edited by Astromut on 12/14/2018 05:49 PM