https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/1228187161939210241 VSS Unity has been carried by VSM Eve to Spaceport America for the final phase of the flight test program. Looks like they are going to do a series of flights and glides before commercial ops there.
Their stock seemed to go up there for awhile https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/02/21/how-investors-should-buy-virgin-galactic-stock.aspx
I saw somewhere they were valued at 6.5 billion. I don't know if most of that is from Launcher One of the tourist trade.
Starship drawings https://twitter.com/fael097/status/1232803320739307521/photo/1 https://twitter.com/fael097/status/1232765777473933315/photo/1 https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50240.840
It turns out that there is a Starship coloring drawings as well as a users manual available over on the forum at www.nasaspaceflight.com Some other highlights are images of the Lunar Starship and some other lunar lander winners...Gizmodo has an article on the men who won’t give up on warp drive...some talk on Soyuz 6 at Anatoly Zak’s site—and in the July 2019 JBIS/April 2020 SPACEFLIGHT magazines is an article on what would be the first true in-space *ship* concept called the SCORPION That’s all for now...
VSS Unity flew for the first time from Space Port New Mexico a couple of weeks ago on a glide return test. Good to see work is still ongoing there. Blue Origin as usual doesn't say much until there is much to say.
They certainly have enough money. The Space Review has a new book review on “After LM” ... this being a book on landers. Dynetics has a page where you can print a lander of your own. There is a paper called: “Effects of the rotation of a spacecraft in an atmospheric close approach with earth” that deals with “aero gravity assisted (AGA) manoeuvres”. Musk might look at this for OMVs
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/vir...eive-faa-license-within-next-two-flights.html So maybe two more powered flights before regular Virgin Galactic service starts. It's mostly down to regulatory stuff now. They've continued glide flights. No word lately on anything out of Blue Origin which is normal. JP Aerospace has had to delay their current pongsat mission, due to Covid issues but work continues on their submarine (lessons learned applicable to Ascender, Dark Sky Station, ATO program. School being out has probably hurt JP Aerospace as I think they do fly a lot of school experiments on the pongsat flights. You can fly your own experiment box to the edge of space with JP for about $360. (I am not a member, just mentioning it)
I had hoped for their airship to orbit. SPSS might beam some power for it to use ion wind perhaps. I’ve seen a DE-STAR starship CG over at NASA Spaceflight.com, along with the Heracles inspired European Large Logistics Lander.
I like the ATO plan. that's a hell of a lot of ion propulsion but if if they really could make it work, it would change the dynamic of how we get to orbit. Mostly I love the idea of Dark Sky Station
Dream Chaser just won a contract for their Shooting Star Unmanned Orbital Outpost, and Cadet JP Byrne talked about a Space Force moonbase (IASPS).
Hey if they are footing the bill—that is good. At another thread, SCI thought the space force a bad idea. But the civilian world got Hubble because the military got the KH-11 first. Space advocates wanted the large Space Based Radar. That is another two-fer in that the large dish tech can be used, say, in radio astronomy. We get nothing from F-35. I am glad to see the space companies get funding any way they can.
The America military provides transportation and logistical support for civilian research bases in antarctica, similar support on the moon?
Something I just noticed. In Whitfield’s Making of Star Trek.... —remember the very simple cylinder ship sketch that was pre-Daedalus? The spitting image of the 150 meter hopper!
Another static test done. IIRC, point to point travel can be done by Starship alone, without the Super-Heavy first stage. Something else in terms of fictional spacecraft having a resemblance. Remember the 1980 FILMATION series FLASH GORDON? Zarkov’s rocket is about that size, just with better area ruling and a cockpit that runs along the side where you could bail out—if the cockpit were facing out to sea and the pad upon a cliff to give time for your ‘chute to open...
It's been 9 months now since New Shepard has flown. I am starting to wonder if Blue Origin has abandoned the program, still going at their tortoise pacing per their motto, or if they brought everyone involved over to the lunar lander group instead. I honestly thought we'd have seen passengers on it by now.