Tag: SpaceShipTwo
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Virgin Galactic’s new SpaceShipTwo space plane flexes its wings in flight for first time
Long-range imagery shows the SpaceShipTwo plane known as VSS Unity with its wings in the feathered position for braking. (MarsScientific.com / Trumbull Studios via Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic passed another essential milestone today in the flight test program for VSS Unity, its upgraded SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, by bending its wings into a “feathered” position for…
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Star-studded cast watches Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo glide through test flight
SpaceShipTwo is nestled between the two fuselages of its White Knight Two carrier airplane before the glide test. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane glided through its third free-flying test run today, and although it hasn’t yet lit up its engine, there was a high-powered crowd to fuel the excitement at California’s Mojave…
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Virgin Galactic sneaks in just one more SpaceShipTwo glide test to cap off 2016
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity glides through the skies over California’s Mojave Desert. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo craft, VSS Unity, took its second free-flying test run today, closing off a rebuilding year for the space venture. At the start of the year, the company was still finishing up work on its second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane,…
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Virgin Galactic’s second spaceship aces first glide flight
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, christened VSS Unity, glided to a runway landing after dropping from its carrier aircraft over California’s Mojave Desert on Saturday. Credit: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane glided to a runway landing after dropping from its carrier aircraft over California’s Mojave Desert on Saturday. With two pilots…
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Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo plane takes its first free-flying test glide
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity glides through its first free-flying flight. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, dubbed VSS Unity, successfully glided through its first free-flying test run today. The flight comes more than two years after the first SpaceShipTwo broke up during a rocket-powered test. The hybrid rocket engine wasn’t switched on…
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Winds get too wild to let Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity plane go gliding
An aerial view shows the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane known as VSS Unity and its White Knight Two mothership from the rear. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic had to scale back what it hoped would be its first free-flying test of VSS Unity, its second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, due to unacceptably high crosswinds. Instead of releasing…
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Virgin Galactic’s new SpaceShipTwo gets off the ground, two years after fatal mishap
The SpaceShipTwo rocket plane known as VSS Unity and its WhiteKnightTwo mothership are seen from below. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic sent its second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, VSS Unity, into the air for the first time today – tucked securely beneath its WhiteKnightTwo mothership for the entire three-hour-plus flight. The captive-carry test flight, conducted from the…
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Virgin Galactic receives FAA license to fly SpaceShipTwo – and it’s taxiing on runway
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, known as VSS Unity, is pulled behind a Range Rover Autobiography vehicle during its first taxi test at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic says it’s received an operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration for flying its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane into outer space with commercial…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin venture gets set to pick up the pace for spaceship test flights
Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship rises from its launch pad in June. (Credit: Blue Origin) Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, plans to accelerate its current once-every-eight-weeks schedule for flight tests of its New Shepard suborbital spaceship, leading up to the first crewed flights next year, one of the company’s…
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Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin highlight small steps toward giant space leaps
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, known as VSS Unity, is brought out from its hangar in Mojave, Calif. A portion of the plane’s WhiteKnightTwo mothership can be seen at the right edge of the frame. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) In the past few weeks, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space venture and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin…