The test was conducted at the Mojave Desert, in California. WhiteKnightTwo lifted the suborbital spacecraft to the skies and then released it. SpaceShipTwo then fired its rocket, shutting it down afterwards. Then it started its feathered descent manoeuvre, demonstrating that Burt Rutan’s shuttlecock technology works perfectly. Such a simple design, yet so effective. This is exactly why I love aircrafts and engineering.
The 27-foot wingspan ship—which has a cabin of just 12 feet (3.66 meters) long by 7.5 feet (2.28 meter) in diameter—will take six people to space for $US200,000 a head when it’s operative.
Patrick
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 10:36 AMNow this is news worthy!! :)
jeremy
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 10:58 AMNo rocket fired – the rocket is capped. I think we see condensation cause by aerodynamic effects just after release. Still super cool :-)
Art
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 11:51 AMIMO, the big, ugly Virgin logo plastered on the belly stops this from being ‘Simply Beautiful’. I fully understand its presence, but still…
polymath
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 12:30 PM^ This!
mack
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 2:24 PMI dont mind the logo at all, its great to see that a company is pushing the out into the boundaries of space. I’m actually kind of proud of them, and its simply amazing to watch. Well done.