Tag: Dave Mackay

  • Virgin Galactic flies to edge of space for first time from New Mexico

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    Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceplane fires its rocket motor to begin an ascent to the edge of space Saturday. Credit: Virgin Galactic Two pilots flew Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocketplane to the edge of space Saturday over New Mexico on the first human spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport America. Commercial astronauts Rick…

  • Virgin Galactic stages second piloted spaceflight

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Virgin Galactic chief pilot Dave Mackay and co-pilot Michael “Sooch” Masucci at the controls of SpaceShipTwo during Friday’s test flight. Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, accompanied the pilots on the flight to the edge of space. Credit: Virgin Galactic Two test pilots and their instructor flew…

  • Photos: VSS Unity’s first powered test flight

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    These images captured by photographer Gene Blevins show Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo space plane making its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday over California’s Mojave Desert, then gliding back to a runway landing. The SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, dropping from the belly of a carrier jet at 9:01 a.m. PDT (12:01 p.m. EDT; 1601 GMT)…

  • Video: SpaceShipTwo rocket plane soars on supersonic test flight

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    Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo rocket plane made its highest and fastest flight to date Thursday, moving the company’s space tourism ambitions closer to reality more than three years after a fatal accident suspended powered test flights. This video shows the SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, dropping from the belly of a carrier jet at 9:01…

  • Virgin Galactic completes first rocket-powered test flight since 2014

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    Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle fires its hybrid rocket motor on Thursday. Credit: MarsScientific.com & Trumbull Studios / Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic’s second piloted suborbital spaceship made its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday, three-and-a-half years after the loss of an earlier model in an accident that killed one test pilot and injured another. Designed to ferry…