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The making of Spaceship Two
Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two rocket plane is the result of a years-long development effort, following up on the successful suborbital spaceflights of Spaceship One in 2004. In this photo, Spaceship Two’s passenger cabin is being placed on the fuselage inside Scaled Composites' hangar in Mojave, Calif.
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Fire away!
The full-scale rocket motor to be used in Spaceship Two is successfully test-fired on May 6, 2009, at the Northrop Grumman test facility in San Clemente, Calif. The hybrid rocket motor was built by Scaled Composites and SpaceDev.
Concerns about
safety
But testing isn't simply a case of "flown there, done
that": The new rocket ship has been scaled up to more than
twice Space Ship One 28-foot length, as shown in this
comparative graphic from Virgin Galactic, and that could
affect how the craft performs. There's always the
chance of suffering a setback during the test phase, as the
Scaled Composites team knows all too well: In 2007, a
nitrous-oxide tank exploded at Scaled's rocket test site,
killing three of the company's employees. The tragedy caused
significant delays in the Space Ship Two development effort. During today's
unveiling, Rutan said the standards for passenger
spaceflight had to surpass the safety record achieved by
government-run space programs. "That's why our program has
been longer and more difficult than anticipated," he said. White Horn, also laid
special emphasis on safety. Like Branson and his family,
White Horn hopes to get an early ride on the Enterprise, so
he has a personal interest in conducting a thorough test
program. "We're not in a race
to do this," he told me. "We have only one chance to get it
right ... and many chances to get it wrong."
Window seats
Windows dot the interior of the Spaceship Two passenger cabin, as seen during an early stage of the rocket plane's construction. The design is aimed at making sure each of the six passengers has a view of the curving Earth and the black sky of space from a height of 62 miles (100
What Spaceship
Two will do
Spaceship Two is designed to carry six passengers and
two pilots to the edge of outer space, past the
100-kilometer (62-mile) altitude mark. The flight profile
would provide about five minutes of weightlessness, a
commanding view of a curving Earth below the black sky of
space, and the world's highest roller-coaster ride going up
and coming down. Rutan has kept mum
about his expectations for the flight schedule, but
observers guess that 2011 or 2012 is the likeliest time
frame for the start of commercial service. Between now and
then, Spaceship Two is likely to go through scores of tests.
Ground testing starts on Tuesday, Branson told us. The first flight
tests, due to begin next year, would involve captive-carry
flights during which the rocket plane would ride between
White Knight Two’s twin cabins so that Scaled's team can
check the aerodynamics of the combined craft. Then there
would be drop tests, in which Space Ship Two would be
released and piloted through a glide back down to Earth. Eventually, the hybrid
rocket motor would be added to the mix: Space Ship Two would
light up its engine in a series of powered flights,
climaxing with the full profile for commercial service.
Space Ship Two would be dropped from White Knight Two at a
height of 60,000 feet, blast off, rise to space worthy
heights and go supersonic on the way down. Space Ship Two uses
the same "carefree re-entry" design pioneered by Space Ship
One. During the peak phase of the flight, the wings fold
forward in such a way that the craft stabilizes itself as it
descends through the atmosphere, even without pilot
intervention
.
Touring
Spaceship Two’s hangar
is there really enough of a market for space travel to
allow Branson to recover his investment? "To be perfectly
honest, I'm not too worried if I make money or not," he told
our NBC News crew during a tour of Spaceship Two’s hangar in
advance of tonight's ceremony. He said his prime concern was
to create something he's proud of, and has faith that any
venture that inspires his pride will end up attracting
customers and making money.The rocket ship, gleaming in Virgin Galactic's
blue-and-black livery, sat mounted between the twin cabins
of the Eve carrier airplane. Branson said the two planes
were linked together for the first time just this weekend.VSS Enterprise is
emblazoned with an image of "Galactic Girl," a mascot who is
modeled after Branson's mother as she looked in the 1940s,
but floating in zero-G. The painting was done by one of her
grandsons, Ned Rocknroll.While we were there,
Eve Branson, who admits to being near her 90s, stopped by to
look at her likeness. "These are your belly-dancing days,"
Richard Branson joked."Could have made the
boobs a little bit bigger," his mother said, grinning all
the while. "Never satisfied,
never satisfied," the son replied. Eve Branson said she
was indeed satisfied, calling the likeness "marvelous" and
congratulating her grandson, the artist. "Hey, if you put
your grandmother on the side of a spaceship, you're all
good," Ned Rocknroll said. Richard Branson said
he marveled to see the paired craft in their flight
configuration. "I thought that I was dreaming. ... I hope
it's not a dream. I hope it's real," he told us.
The White Knight Two carrier plane known as Eve flies over mountains during a test flight from its home base at California's Mojave Air and Space Port. Eve is to serve as the mother ship for Virgin Galactic's Space Ship Two rocket plane. Space Ship Two's test flights are due to begin in 2010. Riding the wave Virgin Group employees sit in the cabin of a prototype Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two spacecraft at London's Science Museum in February 2007. Space Ship Two is designed to carry six passengers and two pilots to the edge of outer space for a few minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this-world view. The fare is $200,000 per passenger.
Welcome aboard
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson prepares for flight inside the mother ship Eve's cockpit at the EAA Air Venture air show in Wisconsin on July 27, 2009. The airplane's pilot, Pete Siebold, and Scaled Composites engineer Bob Morgan help with the preparations.
A ride for the boss
Virgin Galactic's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, flashes a grin as he stands in front on VMS Eve, the White Knight Two airplane that will eventually carry Space Ship Two to its air launch. Branson took his first flight on Eve in July 2009 at the EAA Air Venture air show in Oshkosh, Wis. The plane is named after Branson's mother, who inspired the painting on the fuselage.
Spaceship's debut
Illuminated by colored lights, the Space Ship Two rocket plane is attached to its White Knight Two mother ship during its rollout on Dec. 7 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Ready for testing
Onlookers inspect the back end of the mated White Knight Two and Space Ship Two planes at the Mojave Air and Space Port during the rocket plane's Dec. 7 unveiling. The eight-person Space Ship One, which was christened the VSS Enterprise, is the first of a series of space planes due to start commercial service in the 2011-2012 time frames. Tests of the rocket plane were to begin within days of the unveiling. Tonight's Hollywood-style debut of the world's first commercial suborbital spaceship was a spine-tingling affair - and not just because of the historic occasion, the appearance by a movie star turned governor, or the ice-cold vodka served afterward. It was cold out here in California's Mojave Desert. Virgin Galactic's unveiling of the Spaceship Two rocket plane drew hundreds of paying space tourists and travel agents, rocket geeks and glitterati to the Mojave Air and Space Port. For a while, it looked as if stormy skies and brisk winds would force a change in Virgin billionaire founder Richard Branson's plans for an after-dark, outdoor debut. But in the end, the spotlights went on and the music blared as scheduled, despite the near-freezing temperatures, the wind and the puddles of rain. Spaceship Two rolled down the runway, suspended from its White Knight Two carrier airplane. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson stepped out and smashed bottles of champagne - and Branson's daughter, Holly, officially gave the 60-foot-long craft its new name: the VSS Enterprise. The name pays tribute to the sailing ships of old as well, to the fictional "Star Trek" starship - and to the idea that the craft will bring private enterprise into the world of space travel, said Virgin Galactic's president, Will Whitethorn. Spaceship Two has been under development for years in a Mojave hangar at Scaled Composites - the company that built the craft's predecessor, Spaceship One, to win a $10 million prize for private spaceflight five years ago. The aerospace guru behind both rocket planes, Burt Rutan, is known for playing his cards close to the vest - and today's unveiling marked the first opportunity for outsiders to get a close look at his latest brainchild. Rutan told the hundreds of onlookers assembled under a large plastic shelter that he considered himself "the luckiest guy in the tent." Unlike Rutan, Branson is known for playing up the glitz game to market his ventures - and tonight's main event was a Virgin classic: Within minutes after the rollout, the tent was transformed into a lounge, complete with an ice bar; buffet and electronic music on the public address system. Schwarzenegger, who left right after the christening, said he was tickled to be part of the event. "This here today is one of the coolest things I've ever done," Schwarzenegger told the crowd. Even his kids were jealous, he said. Enterprise's unveiling marks the beginning of a new phase for Virgin Galactic, coming after last year's big reveal for Spaceship Two’s White Knight Two carrier airplane (dubbed "Eve" in honor of Branson's mother) and this year's successful series of rocket engine tests. "Virgin Galactic is now in the final stretch of becoming the world's first commercial space line," Branson declares in a promotional video. Branson is spending an estimated $250 million to $400 million on his space venture, which will involve building at least six Spaceship Two planes and two White Knight Two mother ships. The company already has signed up more than 300 would-be space fliers, including actress Victoria Principal, Hollywood director Bryan Singer and 90-year-old environ-theorist James Lovelock. Paralyzed cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who sampled zero-G two years ago, may eventually fly as well. The price for a three-day space tour package, including training, is $200,000. That price is expected to come down as the space tourism market takes root.
