Dear
Earthlings, mark this date: On October 10, 2010, the "mothership"
dropped its first successful pay load from space.
Virgin
Galactic, the company currently developing a commercial and tourism
spacecraft, reported on
its website that SpaceShip
Two, VSS Enterprise, successfully delivered its first crewed
space flight on Sunday. The historic flight, piloted by Pete
Siebold and Mike Alsbury, went airborne over the Mohave Desert from
The WhiteKnight Two mothership. The WhiteKnight Two released
the VSS Enterprise at an altitude of 45,000 feet.
The
six-passenger spaceship was documented as having a successful glide
flight and descent before landing at California's Mohave Air and
Spaceport.
"The
VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly," said Siebold. "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."
There were
four captive carry flights of the spaceship and mothership. The
mothership flew a total of 40 times in preparation for the historic
event.
"This was one of the most exciting days in the
whole history of Virgin," said Virgin Group Founder Richard
Branson. "For the first time since we seriously began the
project in 2004, I watched the world’s first manned commercial
spaceship landing on the runway at Mojave Air and Space Port and it
was a great moment. Now, the sky is no longer the limit and we will
begin the process of pushing beyond to the final frontier of space
itself over the next year."
Future flights will operate
out of Spaceport American in New Mexico. Although an official
flight date has not yet been released, Virgin Galactic already has a
wealth of paying customers. The tickets
cost $200,000 each and so far, there is an estimated $50
million dollars in deposits from nearly 400 passengers waiting to
board a flight.
Virgin Galactic is not the only
company with plans on taking tourism to outer space. In the UK, an
aircraft that would send passengers out into space faster
than the speed of sound is currently being developed.
