Virgin Galactic Reaches Space Again In Highest, Fastest Test Flight Yet (cnn.com) 48
"If you're willing to spend $250,000 for a quick trip to space, that option is getting closer to reality," reports CNN.
VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane, climbed to a record altitude of nearly 56 miles during a test flight on Friday, marking the second time Richard Branson's startup has reached space. Two pilots, and for the first time, an additional crew member, were on board. Beth Moses, Galactic's chief astronaut trainer and an aerospace engineer, rode along with the pilots. The trip allowed her to run safety checks and get a first look at what Galactic's customers could one day experience. Moses has logged hundreds of hours on zero gravity aircrafts, and she described the G Forces aboard the supersonic plane as "mildly wild." Some moments were intense, she told CNN Business, but it was never uncomfortable. "I was riveted and I think our customers will be as well."
Unity took off from a runway in California's Mojave Desert just after 8 am PT and cruised to about 45,000 feet attached to its mothership before it broke away and fired its rocket motor. The plane then swooped into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, 295,000 feet high, at supersonic speeds. It's top speed was Mach 3. At the peak of its flight path, Unity experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and looked out into the black skies of the cosmos. Moses said she was able to leave her seat and take in the view. "The Earth was beautiful -- super sharp, super clear," she said, "with a gorgeous view of the Pacific mountains."
America's Federal Aviation Administration says they'll now award commercial astronaut wings to all three members of the crew, and CNN reports that this second successful test flight suggests Galactic "could be on track" to start flying tourists into space this year.
"About 600 people have reserved tickets, priced between $200,000 and $250,000, to fly with Galactic. And the company says it wants to eventually lower prices to broaden its customer base."
Unity took off from a runway in California's Mojave Desert just after 8 am PT and cruised to about 45,000 feet attached to its mothership before it broke away and fired its rocket motor. The plane then swooped into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, 295,000 feet high, at supersonic speeds. It's top speed was Mach 3. At the peak of its flight path, Unity experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and looked out into the black skies of the cosmos. Moses said she was able to leave her seat and take in the view. "The Earth was beautiful -- super sharp, super clear," she said, "with a gorgeous view of the Pacific mountains."
America's Federal Aviation Administration says they'll now award commercial astronaut wings to all three members of the crew, and CNN reports that this second successful test flight suggests Galactic "could be on track" to start flying tourists into space this year.
"About 600 people have reserved tickets, priced between $200,000 and $250,000, to fly with Galactic. And the company says it wants to eventually lower prices to broaden its customer base."
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Trillions of tax money got a few people on the moon, it got me nothing.
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Are you that [telegraph.co.uk] ignorant [nasa.gov]?
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You could have spend it on research subsidies for terrestrial applications and got more out of it. Accidental unrelated discoveries will happen in every field.
The only unique results you get from spending money going to the moon is what's necessary to go to the moon and nothing else.
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Regardless of how those technologies might have been acquired, you received them via the Apollo program. Your claim that you received nothing is provably wrong. QED.
You're crying over lost opportunity cost. Unless your research gives you a time machine, I suggest you focus on the present.
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You actually received them from Werner von Braun.
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Space? (Score:2)
Didn't we just have an article yesterday on how space actually starts much further away if by space you mean "not Earth's atmosphere"?
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Yeah, but they were high enough to feel spacey, that counts right?
"Dude, I think I can see Romulus from up here!"
Re:Space? (Score:5, Informative)
There is no sharp distinction between atmosphere and space. The fact that detectable traces of the Earth's atmosphere extend to the Moon doesn't mean you are not "in space" when you're orbiting the Moon. As technology improves traces of the Earth's atmosphere will be found even farther away.
But people need lines to govern things like jurisdiction. The usual line is the Karman Line at roughly 100km. That's where the minimum speed needed to maintain aerodynamic lift equals orbital velocity. Well below that line vehicles fly; well above the line they orbit. But there's no practical difference between traveling at 99 km of altitude and 101 km.
There are other places you could draw the line. One could make an argument for 150 km, which is the minimum altitude at which a craft can complete a single unboosted orbit without atmospheric drag causing it to crash. Alternatively, I like the Armstrong Line -- this is the maximum altitude a human could survive at without a pressure suit. That's about 19km, well below the altitudes routinely reached by U2 spy plane flights.
NASA used to use the Karman Line, but switched to 80km so that there wouldn't be a difference in astronaut status between civilians and military personnel on the same flight. The US military used 50 miles/80 km in awarding astronaut wings. This is both a nice round number, and it is roughly where the stratosphere ends and the thermosphere begins. The thermosphere extends well beyond any commonly accepted started point for "outer space".
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Well said, +1, Informative.
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The Karman line, as computed by Karman, was 52 miles.
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Very informative. Personally, I don't see a need to change the standard but think Virgin should shoot for 150km. For the price of the ticket you not only go to space and gain astronaut status but you'd have an orbit of the Earth to go with it.
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But people need lines to govern things like jurisdiction. The usual line is the Karman Line at roughly 100km. That's where the minimum speed needed to maintain aerodynamic lift equals orbital velocity.
It's also worth pointing out that the exact atltitude where that occurs depends on the the thickness of the atmosphere (which varies significantly spatially and seasonally), and even the design of the aircraft. Most people who have estimated average values have gotten numbers between 80 and 90 km. The 100km number is a political definition found my rounding to a nice even number, as is the 50mi the USAF uses. Flying to the edge of space is a t perfectly reasonable description of what both Virgin Galactic an
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Alternatively, I like the Armstrong Line -- this is the maximum altitude a human could survive at without a pressure suit. That's about 19km,
By altitude training, and boosting your blood capacity with EPO , than can be considerably extended, I hear.
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Well, it's space by some definitions. It's certainly not that far fetched to call it suborbital space flight, with minutes of weightlessness, a view from vastly higher than with any regular airplane, and much less atmosphere. Space is a fairly big place, so with any kind of 'space mission' you need more information to figure out how impressive it is and what it entails.
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Missing the important bit here... (Score:2)
Please tell us if the Earth was round or flat.
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"It looked like a perfect disk." - It's strange that the disk has different continents when viewed from space over the U.S. vs. China though.
"Space" should be in quotes with asterisk appended (Score:2)
...as they're just using some obscure groups definition of space. ;)
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...as they're just using some obscure groups definition of space. ;)
Yeah, what would NASA know anyway.