Virgin’s rocket-powered ship goes supersonic HOW IT ALL HAPPENED?
New York, April 30: For the first time, a commercial passenger space-liner designed to carry space tourists has made its maiden rocket-powered test flight, reaching supersonic speeds, paving way for commercial flights in the near future.
The test of space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2), conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks the company's entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to commercial service from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date,” said Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson.
“For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight.
“Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realis- tic goal of full space flight by the year's end. We saw history in the making today and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved,” Branson said in a statement. “The rocket motor ignition went as planned, with the expected
ACCORDING to a media release, the test began at 7:02 am local time when the SS2 took off from Mojave Air and Space Port mated to WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft. Piloting the SS2 were Mark Stucky, pilot, and Mike Alsbury, co-pilot, who are test pilots for Scaled, which built SS2 for Virgin Galactic.
UPON reaching 47,000 feet and approximately 45 minutes into the flight, the SS2 was released from WK2.
After cross-checking data and verifying stable control, the pilots triggered ignition of the rocket motor, causing the main oxidiser valve to open and igniters to fire within the fuel case.
At this point, the SS2 was propelled forward and upward to a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet.
The entire engine burn lasted 16 seconds, as planned. During this time, SS2 went supersonic, achieving Mach 1.2.
The entire rocket-powered flight test lasted just over 10 minutes, culminating in a smooth landing for the SS2 in Mojave at approximately 8 am local time. burn duration, good engine performance and solid vehicle handling qualities thr- oughout,” said Virgin Galactic President & CEO, George Whitesides. — PTI