TECH NEWS: IT, TECHNOLOGY - Virgin Galactic spacecraft Spaceship

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 03:41

Virgin Galactic spacecraft Spaceship

Spaceship Two "Enterprise" glides down towards the runway.

Virgin Galactic spacecraft Spaceship two tourists conducted on Sunday its first manned glide landing. The magic date was 10 10 10.

Spaceship Two, which is also called the VSS Enterprise, was lifted to a height of 13 700 meters of his so-called parent plane White Knight Two, after which it detached and flew gliding to the runway in the Mojave Desert.

The spacecraft lever by the pilot Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury who had the opportunity to experience how Enterprise behave during loss kopplignen from the parent planet, and how it behaves during gliding flight.

Virgin Galactic owner Sir Richard Branson was on the scene and expressed his appreciation of the successful landing.

The idea is that the company Virgin Galactic a few years to offer tourist trips into space, that is a short trip to just above 100 km altitude where passengers can experience weightlessness for several minutes after which the craft glide back to Earth.

Enterprise has room for two pilots and six passengers.

To date, 370 interested signed up for a future space trip. They have pre-booked tickets for a value of $ 50 million, money used in the development of spacecraft.

It remains to test the Enterprise for an independent trip to space with his rocket. In addition, the craft is certified by the American aviation authorities before being released for tourist trips.