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Science Virgin Galactic Unveils First Spaceship
Michael Asher (Blog) - January 23, 2008 1:23 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 90 comment(s) - last by SlyNine.. on Feb 10 at 12:40 AM

Virgin Galactic in space. Note the vertical position of the wings.

Mated to the Mothership: just prior to launch.
Tourism flights booking now; first takeoff in mid-2009

Virgin Galactic, the spaceflight division of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, formally unveiled its first spacecraft in New York City today. The ship, named SpaceShipTwo, is nearing the final phases of construction by Scaled Composites.

Today's announcement was bittersweet.  In June, the aircraft will begin is mandated 50 test flights before carrying a single passenger.  But this incredible success is not without its price: one of SpaceShipTwo's engines killed three Scaled Composites employees during a test last July.  Branson and Scaled Composites would not comment if the explosion delayed the project.

Safety is paramount at Virgin Galactic.  Branson claimed ex-Trekker William Shatner was scheduled as one of the first to fly on SpaceShipTwo, though Shatner then publicly made the claim, "I do want to go up, but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back."

The risks of spaceflight have not deterred others.  Virgin Galactic claims up to 200 people have already booked seats on the sub-orbital craft through 2009. Though the initial ticket price is $200,000, a British businessman named Alan Watts was able to redeem two million frequent flier miles for a 2009 flight.  Branson promised that after the first 100 passengers, the deposit cost will dip to $100,000 for the next 400 passengers. 

Eventually, Branson hopes to bring suborbital flight to as low as $20,000 per person. 

The ship will reach a maximum altitude of 68 miles, just exceeding the formal boundary of space. Total time for each flight is projected to be in the 2.5 hour range, which includes six minutes of weightlessness at the peak of the suborbital phase.

The spacecraft will fold its wings up for reentry into atmosphere, then fold them back again immediately before landing.

Launches will occur from underneath a mother ship known as WhiteKnightTwo, also unveiled in New York today.  All flights will originate from Upham, New Mexico.

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Disappointed
By masher2 (blog) on 1/23/2008 1:55:29 PM , Rating: 6
quote:
though Shatner then publicly made the claim, "I do want to go up, but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back."
I know Shatner is just an actor...but his response here really disappointed me. 75 years old, and, to many people, the public face of space travel...and he turns down one of the first flights into space?

Why oh why do we respect these people?




RE: Disappointed
By bfellow on 1/23/2008 2:05:58 PM , Rating: 4
Umm after hearing the test explosion, I would be concerned about my own safety too.

It's not every day you get incinerated in mid-flight.


RE: Disappointed
By masher2 (blog) on 1/23/2008 2:09:32 PM , Rating: 4
That's why you do testing, to iron out problems before real flights. And don't forget, there'll be a year of actual test flights before the first commercial one.

In any case, Shatner made his comments months before the explosion.


RE: Disappointed
By ChristopherO on 1/23/2008 8:17:42 PM , Rating: 3
True, but NASA has lost missions after "rigorous testing" (and hundreds of thousands of man-hours of engineering). The risk of catastrophic failure appears to be 2%. Sure, I want to go into space someday, but I'm not going with a 2% chance of death. Scaled Composites hasn't proven they are any better than that.

If you want a figurehead, get John Glenn or Neil Armstrong. Both of them are getting old, but at least they understand the risks and have accepted them before. Plus I think it's more fitting to put a real NASA astronaut in space than Captain Kirk.


RE: Disappointed
By masher2 (blog) on 1/23/2008 9:37:25 PM , Rating: 2
> "I want to go into space someday, but I'm not going with a 2% chance of death"

For the first emigrants to precolonial America, the risk of death was nearly 50%...and people still came. Have we as a culture really lost so much courage?

BTW, NASA's record on suborbital flights is 100%....and that's with 1960s-era technology.

> "I think it's more fitting to put a real NASA astronaut in space "

And what does that prove to the average person? We already know "real NASA astronauts" can go to space. The goal here is to show space travel is achievable by anyone.


RE: Disappointed
By ChristopherO on 1/23/2008 11:27:00 PM , Rating: 3
"The goal here is to show space travel is achievable by anyone."

True, but it would be going full circle. The first time Glenn went into space was on the back of the public treasury. I think it is immeasurably symbolic to show a transition to privatized industry. I'd put Glenn, Rutan, and Branson on the inaugural flight. I admire that symbolism more than whatever The Shat chooses to do with his life. If the guy wanted to be a real hero he could have joined the police rather than playing a cop on TV.

I think Hugh Laurie said it best in reference to his father (a real doctor): "I do feel bad that now I'm pretending to do what my dad did and getting paid more for it than he ever did."

"Have we as a culture really lost so much courage?"

"We" never had that much courage. It takes brave men and women to do great things. I'm sure you could find millions willing to take the risk, but that's still a tiny subset of the population.

The SS1 safety record isn't that great. During flight they had an unexplained detonation that severely deformed an engine cowling, on the first X-Prize qualifier went into a spin that almost resulted in an abort, and finally lost three men to a supposedly safe ground-test.

I don't know what the actual percentages happen to be, but I'd guess the risk of catastrophic failure is a heck of a lot higher than anything NASA has ever operated. It's not like they launched SS1 without any testing. They went through a formal suite and still experienced these problems.

Should Virgin Galactic go to space? Sure, but that doesn't make someone a chicken if they aren't willing to take the risk.


RE: Disappointed
By rupaniii on 1/30/2008 10:20:04 AM , Rating: 2
They don't make em like they used to!


RE: Disappointed
By maverick85wd on 1/28/2008 7:38:03 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
but I'm not going with a 2% chance of death


Wussy!

I'd do it right now. I love aeronautics, and I've ALWAYS wanted to go to space. I would accept up to 35% chance of death if it would get me to the moon. Then again, I also want to be an astronaut. The thing about space travel is you really never know. They can calculate probability of death all they want; the reality is that, once you go that far out, there just is no guarantee. I know the same can be said for automobiles and airplanes, but it's really not the same so don't!


RE: Disappointed
By Samus on 1/24/2008 3:49:32 PM , Rating: 2
Right. Would you rather all the engine failure hadn't occured during testing, and occured in space?

The men who died testing these engines could be considered hero's. They probably found faulty fuel delivery lines or seals that will be corrected in the finished engines, saving this thing from being another titanic.


RE: Disappointed
By TimberJon on 1/24/2008 4:06:20 PM , Rating: 2
To be noted is the fact that, they probably destroyed a few props while on the original show.

He's a smart guy. I wouldn't be too excited to get on an untested spacecraft either. Kudos and props for you if you come out of it ok, but years later you will say "I was on the first flight" and people will not care. Big deal.

Cant wait until we have "rock rats"


RE: Disappointed
By mezman on 1/25/2008 6:42:19 PM , Rating: 2
Wow, that would really suck if that did happen to you every day.


RE: Disappointed
By phaxmohdem on 1/23/2008 2:08:58 PM , Rating: 5
You don't question William Shatner.


RE: Disappointed
By TSS on 1/23/2008 2:16:13 PM , Rating: 4
maybe because sending a senior citizen up to the most hostile enviroment we've ever know that's never actually been there (unlike the lunar landings, star trek *was* recorded in a hollywood studio) isn't exactly the safest thing to do. sure the oldest person in space, john glenn, could do it at age 77. but shatner isn't a trained astronaut.

honestly he's right. it wouldn't look too great if the next headline was "kirk dies in space". once they've tested the thing in real life, carried a few people (i'd presume people closest to the project will want to go first) he'll do it.

would you commit to something that hasn't even flown yet at age 75? more honestly would you even feel the need for such an adventure at age 75? i'd seriously doubt it. especially when your born 22 march 1931, so he's 76 now, 77 soon and well into 78 by the time this thing actually flies in 2009.


RE: Disappointed
By masher2 (blog) on 1/23/2008 2:40:10 PM , Rating: 5
> "...but shatner isn't a trained astronaut."

He's not being asked to drive the bloody thing.

Personally, I think a person whose grown rich and famous from portraying a space captain would want to visit space at least once before he dies, particularly since the trip is free.

Of course, waiting until hundreds of others have already flown, and it's no more adventurous than a bus trip across town is always an option. Does that really meet the goal though?

Of course, that depends on what your goals are. If they're simply to get rich and famous without advancing society in any way...why then, you're right, why take the risk?

As for this being "the most hostile environment ever", I'm quite confident the trip will be orders of magnitude safer than what, say, your average fireman experiences in a burning building.


RE: Disappointed
By ajfink on 1/23/2008 3:11:20 PM , Rating: 5
Drive it?

Damnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a pilot!


RE: Disappointed
By Vanilla Thunder on 1/23/2008 3:19:18 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Personally, I think a person whose grown rich and famous from portraying a space captain would want to visit space at least once before he dies, particularly since the trip is free.


So you're saying that someone who might have grown rich and famous from portraying, let's say, a serial killer (Anthony Hopkins) would want to kill someone at least once before he dies?

quote:
waiting until hundreds of others have already flown, and it's no more adventurous than a bus trip across town is always an option.


How you compare a flight into space to a bus ride is beyond me. Also, are you saying that once others have done something, there's no use in trying it because it's not "new" or you're not the "first"? If that's the case, we should all pretty much quit everything, and never try anything new.

quote:
Of course, that depends on what your goals are. If they're simply to get rich and famous without advancing society in any way...why then, you're right, why take the risk?


Please tell me how William Shatner going into space would advance us as a society in any way that TJ Hooker didn't.

Vanilla


RE: Disappointed
By ttowntom on 1/23/08, Rating: -1
RE: Disappointed
By Vanilla Thunder on 1/23/2008 5:06:35 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Branson thought Shatner in space would advance the company enough to more than pay for the cost of a free ticket.


Note the OP spoke of advancing us as a society, not advanvcement of the company. I fully agree this would advance the company, but not society.

Also, I don't think that actors, athletes, or musicians are entitled to "give anything back". If we as a society deem it necessary to make them rich and famous, that's nobody's fault but our own. And when they don't reciprocate to the level of some fevered fanboi's expectations, they get bashed for being self centered and unappreciative. I say let them get their money and live their lives. They owe us nothing save a thank you.

Vanilla


RE: Disappointed
By masher2 (blog) on 1/23/2008 5:15:24 PM , Rating: 3
> "I fully agree this would advance the company, but not society."

Advancing private spaceflight does advance society. A hell of a lot more than the other cause actors typically support.

> "Also, I don't think that actors, athletes, or musicians are entitled to "give anything back". "

That's a valid opinion. Personally I can't understand why anyone would turn down a free flight, especially an actor famous for exploring space, but certainly opinions differ.


RE: Disappointed