White Knight Two (aka EVE) Launched by Virgin Galactic
Filed under: News | By: Daniel
Posted on: July 28, 2008 | 2 Comments
Following on from a post earlier about “WhiteKnightTwo from Virgin to be unveiled today”, we can now confirm that it has been launched.
You can see some photos on this page of Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two. This is Sir Richard Branson’s latest venture and it’s officially the largest all carbon-composite aircraft ever made.
The 140-foot wingspaned aircraft will carry the SpaceShipTwo craft into orbit (when its completed). White Knight 2 will be able to reach 50,000 ft and can train pilots for pre space-flight zero G training and positive G forces.
Richard Branson has said that Virgin Galactic’s spaceship carrier will be the first of many more. You can view more photos on Wired or read other Virgin Galactic news here.
Space Travel is heading to reality for more people but sadly those people will also have a nice bank balance. If you had the money, would you pay for a trip on SpaceShipTwo?
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I expect to fly on SpaceshipTwo when the cost is $20,000.
As for whether Rutan’s system makes sense, I expect in the next decade we will see gigantic aircraft along the lines of Eve capable of lifting thousands of tons to fifty thousand feet or more as they carry two stage rockets to altitude where rocket efficiency is far greater than sea level. By the way, these same aircraft will revolutionize fighting wild fires as they literally create rainstorms with their enormous payloads.
As for SpaceshipThree: how about this for a 2014 headline “Rutan spaceship arrives at Paris Airshow after ballistic flight from New York” That, my friends, would be the flight heard round the world.
Ciao for now,
Len
What really concerns me as a Private Pilot is the aircraft’s roll, yaw and pitch. I realize much highly skilled technology has been built into the craft to avoid “twisting” especially after the launch of its payload. I am still worried that the main spars break in very turbulent air or slipstream from the space craft.