The first free flight of the SpaceShipTwo (VSS Enterprise) craft began this week after a series of captive carry flights. The captive carry flights are flights where SpaceShipTwo is attached to its mother ship WhiteKnightTwo (aka:Eve after Sir Richard Branson’s mother) which took place earlier this year in March. The free flight confirmed that the VSS Enterprise’s flight systems were all functioning correctly. News reports quote the pilot Peter Siebold saying “That was a real joy to fly,” “especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders.” Virgin Galactic plans to enter into commercial operations once all testing is complete. The craft will be taken up to a high altitude by a conventional plane then released at which point, a rocket booster will propel the craft out of the atmosphere. Its reentry would be similar to NASA’s Space Shuttle with a controlled glide to a predefined landing point
It took place in California's Mojave Desert at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the center of Mojave, Ca. between Hwy 14 and Hwy 58 and just north of Edward Airforce Base in Kern County. Flight testing activities have been centered in Mojave since the early 1970s as there is limited population. In addition, being near Edwards Airforce base restricted airspace is ideal for testing. It is also been an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle, and a famous moth ball fleet site of unused commercial planes covering the horizon. The FAA has given the airport spaceport status through 2014. It has recently gained fame as a Spaceport with Virgin Galactic but other private space companies like XCOR Aerospace a rocket engine and spaceflight development company, Orbital a satellite launch and manufacturer, Masten Space Systems an aerospace startup company, and Interorbital Systems which is working on a line of launch vehicles aimed at winning the Google Lunar X Prize all call Mojave their home. The area has a sparse population but very high tech ambitions. This adds to Antelope Valley’s a reputation for flight as Palmdale, Ca Plant 42 was the original home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Virgin Galactic $450 million project will eventually see six commercial vessels shuttling into space as Virgin Galactic has lined up some 370 customer deposits totaling some $50 million for what it will be the world’s first commercial passenger space flight operation. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows, one side window and one overhead, so that, if you don't want to float free in space, and you'd rather just remain in your seat, you still get a great chance to see the view.
Lancaster, Palmdale and Mojave Ca. continue to promote high tech opportunities with homegrown technologies that can’t be outsourced. The growth in Solar, Wind, Aerospace and Space technology provide long term professional jobs within a commuting proximity to Greater Los Angeles. These are the types of signs of an expanding economy, and an investment opportunity to be ahead of the curve. Landbanking is based on buying and holding undeveloped land for the near and long term. Low priced land is available today in 2010 for a good potential profit in five to ten years.
Showing posts with label Sir Richard Branson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sir Richard Branson. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Antelope Valley High Desert Oasis Launches Space Tourism at Mojave Air and Space Port
Antelope Valley is adding more high tech to its Solar and Wind technology, and Stealth Bomber Testing. Virgin Galactic unveils Enterprise-SpaceShipTwo as its first of five potential suborbital planes. SpaceShipTwo measures 60 feet long and it is intended to carry two pilots and six passengers, who will pay for a 2 1/2 hour flight into suborbital space, to experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.
The unveiling is a first look at space tourism and was attended by some of the 300 or so potential passengers who have already put down a deposit of $20,000 toward the $200,000 outlay. It took place in California's Mojave Desert at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the center of Mojave, Ca. between Hwy 14 and Hwy 58 and just north of Edward Airforce Base. It is a test site for new aircraft technology, and near an array of mothballed aircraft seen on the horizon. The audience included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princess Beatrice, and Sir Richard Branson "This will be the start of commercial space travel."You become the astronaut." Branson said.
SpaceShipTwo uses all the same basic technology, carbon composite construction and design as the first version SpaceShipOne, but it is around twice as large as that vehicle. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows, one side window and one overhead, so that, if you don't want to float free in space, and you'd rather just remain in your seat, you still get a great chance to see the view.
According to Virgin Galactics website the mothership WhiteKnightTwo-Eve and SpaceShipTwo were designed by Burt Rutan, since SpaceShipTwo is larger then the mothership which was also enlarged with two fuselages with a long undercarriage. Both of WhiteKnightTwo's fuselages have a dihedral wing and the spaceship will be placed centrally between them, where the wing tips are joined at the highest point of the elongated 'W-shape' wing. With its fuselages some 50ft apart, WhiteKnightTwo's payload area is large and readily accessible from the ground.
News sources indicate that flight testing is expected to begin early next year. First flights will be captive carry flights with SpaceShipTwo staying attached to WhiteKnightTwo. After that the flight test team will begin glide flights in SpaceShipTwo and eventually powered flights with the rocket motor. Once flight testing is complete and the government regulations have been met, Virgin Galactic plans to regularly fly passengers into space from the company’s New Mexico space port. The $450 million project will eventually see six commercial vessels shuttling into space. The Enterprise-SpaceShipTwo will be carried to an altitude of 11 miles by a twin-hulled Mothership called WhiteKnightTwo-Eve, named after Sir Richard's mother. It will then release and fire its own hybrid rocket to propel it into space, accelerating to 2,500mph and soaring to 65 miles above the Earth. After hitting the top of its trajectory, the 22-yard-long ship will fall back to Earth, gliding the last part of the way before landing much like a plane.
Sir Richard indicated that by 2020 he hoped there would be as many as five competing spaceship companies and the price of a ticket could be driven down enough for hundreds of thousands of passengers to go into space. Experts say that by traveling into near-Earth orbit, the length of inter-continental flights could be cut dramatically, so a flight from London to Sydney could last just two hours. It is exciting high technology news for this high desert oasis.
The unveiling is a first look at space tourism and was attended by some of the 300 or so potential passengers who have already put down a deposit of $20,000 toward the $200,000 outlay. It took place in California's Mojave Desert at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the center of Mojave, Ca. between Hwy 14 and Hwy 58 and just north of Edward Airforce Base. It is a test site for new aircraft technology, and near an array of mothballed aircraft seen on the horizon. The audience included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princess Beatrice, and Sir Richard Branson "This will be the start of commercial space travel."You become the astronaut." Branson said.
SpaceShipTwo uses all the same basic technology, carbon composite construction and design as the first version SpaceShipOne, but it is around twice as large as that vehicle. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows, one side window and one overhead, so that, if you don't want to float free in space, and you'd rather just remain in your seat, you still get a great chance to see the view.
According to Virgin Galactics website the mothership WhiteKnightTwo-Eve and SpaceShipTwo were designed by Burt Rutan, since SpaceShipTwo is larger then the mothership which was also enlarged with two fuselages with a long undercarriage. Both of WhiteKnightTwo's fuselages have a dihedral wing and the spaceship will be placed centrally between them, where the wing tips are joined at the highest point of the elongated 'W-shape' wing. With its fuselages some 50ft apart, WhiteKnightTwo's payload area is large and readily accessible from the ground.
News sources indicate that flight testing is expected to begin early next year. First flights will be captive carry flights with SpaceShipTwo staying attached to WhiteKnightTwo. After that the flight test team will begin glide flights in SpaceShipTwo and eventually powered flights with the rocket motor. Once flight testing is complete and the government regulations have been met, Virgin Galactic plans to regularly fly passengers into space from the company’s New Mexico space port. The $450 million project will eventually see six commercial vessels shuttling into space. The Enterprise-SpaceShipTwo will be carried to an altitude of 11 miles by a twin-hulled Mothership called WhiteKnightTwo-Eve, named after Sir Richard's mother. It will then release and fire its own hybrid rocket to propel it into space, accelerating to 2,500mph and soaring to 65 miles above the Earth. After hitting the top of its trajectory, the 22-yard-long ship will fall back to Earth, gliding the last part of the way before landing much like a plane.
Sir Richard indicated that by 2020 he hoped there would be as many as five competing spaceship companies and the price of a ticket could be driven down enough for hundreds of thousands of passengers to go into space. Experts say that by traveling into near-Earth orbit, the length of inter-continental flights could be cut dramatically, so a flight from London to Sydney could last just two hours. It is exciting high technology news for this high desert oasis.
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