SpaceShipTwo unveiled

[B.J.]

Virgin Galactic unveiled the design for SpaceShipTwo today:
http://www.virgingalactic.com/pressftp/

Predictable design (knowing what SpaceShipOne looked like), but still looks very cool. And looking at that website, Virgin really knows how to put a press package together! There's an amazing amount of hi-res pictures and information there. Also, if you look at the nose of SpaceShipTwo in this picture, you can see that the first one will still be named VSS Enterprise.

 

[Mysterion]

Loving that nose-art! They need to be seeling that on t-shirts.

 

[syc]

And every hopeful on the planet wets themselves!

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Can someone explain to me the purpose of two cabin strucutres on the white knight two. Is that so your family can watch you?

everything is swift, but that.

 

[Johnny Rico]

ThunderAeroI said:
Can someone explain to me the purpose of two cabin strucutres on the white knight two. Is that so your family can watch you?

everything is swift, but that.

I was wondering the same thing.

In any case, if this design works as well as SpaceShipOne, then I can imagine sometime in the near future, that a SpaceShipThree or Four might just be the true follow-up to the Space Shuttle.

 

[Amaris]

Did anyone else see the name "VSS Enterprise" on SpaceShipTwo? Because I know I did.


J.

 

[Christopher]

J. Allen said:
Did anyone else see the name "VSS Enterprise" on SpaceShipTwo? Because I know I did.

But... but... it wasn't on the display wall of past Enterprises in the TMP rec room or the TNG observation lounge! It's not cannnnnnon! So it can't actually exist!

 

[James Bond]

Christopher said:

J. Allen said:
Did anyone else see the name "VSS Enterprise" on SpaceShipTwo? Because I know I did.

But... but... it wasn't on the display wall of past Enterprises in the TMP rec room or the TNG observation lounge! It's not cannnnnnon! So it can't actually exist!

Fuck this. Virgin Galactic has raped my childhood.

 

[syc]

James Bond said:

Christopher said:

J. Allen said:
Did anyone else see the name "VSS Enterprise" on SpaceShipTwo? Because I know I did.

But... but... it wasn't on the display wall of past Enterprises in the TMP rec room or the TNG observation lounge! It's not cannnnnnon! So it can't actually exist!

Fuck this. Virgin Galactic has raped my childhood.

^ And the future...

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

I'd like to see future releases of TMP digitally retconned so that the VSS Enterprise appears on the wall of the rec room

But check the BBC article, $200 000 to get into space? And to do what's described on the Virgin Galactic website? That's incredibly cheap compared to a trip to the ISS for $20 million, space tourism is really taking off and its in my life time.

 

[flux_29]

cool.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

I still think sub-orbital is the white elephant of space travel. From what I have read the cost of actually get into orbit is still much too expensive for commerical operations.

I could be wrong, and I hope that if anyone can make the mold work it will be Mr. Rutan. I meet him and his brother once in Oshkosh. Very nice man from what I could gather, I did not speak with him. I just had a simple question about voyager at the time, but now he does actual shows at Oshkosh and it is always packed.

 

[Christopher]

ThunderAeroI said:
I still think sub-orbital is the white elephant of space travel. From what I have read the cost of actually get into orbit is still much too expensive for commerical operations.

Well, it's a step along the way. What we learn from these projects can help us devise new solutions for orbital flights. (For instance, the plane used to carry SpaceShipTwo could also be used to carry unmanned satellites that would then lift into orbit, for considerably less expense than a rocket launch.)

That first "airplane" the Wright Brothers got off the ground was technically nothing more than a ground effect vehicle. It wasn't really flying in a practical sense. But it paved the way for real flight and the industry that grew from it.

 

[Lindley]

As I see it, the main problem with spaceflight is that we haven't figured out anything better than action/reaction to accomplish it.

Airplanes use A/RA to provide speed, but the work of keeping them in the air is done by lift. Spacecraft, or even upper-atmosphere craft, have no such assistance.

I don't know what the alternative is, but I feel like there has to be one. A continued reliance on "traditional" rocket engines to get anywhere will be a major hindrance in moving too far from a fuel source.

 

[Christopher]

Lindley said:
As I see it, the main problem with spaceflight is that we haven't figured out anything better than action/reaction to accomplish it.... A continued reliance on "traditional" rocket engines to get anywhere will be a major hindrance in moving too far from a fuel source.

Actually there's a great deal of research underway on lightsails, magnetic sails, and beam propulsion as alternatives to rocketry. Getting around once you reach space is actually quite easy, as long as you aren't in a hurry, since there's no friction to fight. The main obstacle to practical spaceflight is getting into space to begin with, fighting the Earth's intense gravity. That's where we most need alternatives to rockets. But there are active efforts to develop the technology for orbital tethers (space elevators), and some research is being done on a means of using lasers to launch ships into orbit by vaporizing the air beneath them and using that series of "explosions" to propel them skyward. Either one could provide an effective "highway" for getting ships into orbit economically. And once in orbit, it's comparatively easy to get anywhere else in the system.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

ThunderAeroI said:
Can someone explain to me the purpose of two cabin strucutres on the white knight two. Is that so your family can watch you?

That's one reason; for observer ride-alongs on launches.

Another reason is that the cabins on White Knight 2 are identical in configuration to the SpachShip 2 cabin. This allows the White Knight 2 to also act as a training plane for the 0G environment, much like the old "Vomit Comet" that NASA uses.


AG

 

[Tyson]

"Also, if you look at the nose of SpaceShipTwo in this picture, you can see that the first one will still be named VSS Enterprise."

WHERE IS YOUR AZTEC PLATING AND OTHER SUPERFLUOUS SURFACE "DETAIL" NOW?

Spaceship Two is SOOOOO unrealistic. Pfft!

 

[Christopher]

^^Ahh, but did they assemble it by welding? That's the burning question. (Literally?)

 

[ThunderAeroI]

pretty sure welding is not "burning", but rather "heating"

but yeah

 

[What's his face]

I thought it was hilarious that they built the thing on earth, instead of in orbit. How unrealistic is that. Dicks.