Richard Branson unveils plane that will launch Spaceship

[Pieter C. 5]

Branson Unveils Plane That Will Launch Spaceship

 

July 28, 2008

Entrepreneur Richard Branson on Monday unveiled the plane intended as the launch aircraft for a Virgin Galactic spaceship full of paying passengers.

 

The WhiteKnightTwo was displayed for a small group of reporters and invited guests at the California desert headquarters of Scaled Composites, the aerospace firm where it was built.

 

WhiteKnightTwo, nicknamed "Eve" after Branson's mother, was designed as a high-altitude aircraft that will launch SpaceShipTwo from midair.

 

It sports twin fuselages and a 140-foot (43-metre) wingspan and will carry SpaceShipTwo under the center of its wing, between the two hulls. The plan is for the aircraft to free the spacecraft at about 50,000 feet, from where it will rocket into space.

 

Virgin Galactic, part of Branson's airline, leisure and retail company Virgin Group, hopes to send its first paying customers into space for USD$200,000 each within two years.

 

Branson said 200 people signed up for the ultimate sightseeing trip and that he expected the ticket price to drop significantly over the next five years.

 

Among the passengers expected to make the first trip are physicist Stephen Hawking, actress Victoria Principal and designer Philippe Starck.

 

Virgin Galactic is one of several contenders in the new commercial space race.

 

Others include Europe's EADS Astrium; Blue Origin, started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), created by PayPal founder Elon Musk; Rocketplane Kistler; and Bigelow Aerospace, a venture aimed at creating space hotels, started by hotelier Robert Bigelow.

 

Space Adventures started the space tourism phenomenon in 2001 when it put US businessman Dennis Tito on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft headed for the International Space Station for a reported USD$20 million.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Ashmil Abd Ghani 0]

==Soon EveryOne Can Touch the SKY==

 

I love Sir Richard Branson ambitions..

 

Edited July 30, 2008 by Ashmil Abd Ghani

[MIR 2]

Virgin Galactic White Knight Two

 

Evolution of human flight on the engine.

 

Richard speaks to the media

 

Richard with his parents Eve and Ted Branson

 

White Knight Two "Eve," named after his mother Eve Branson

 

Richard celebrates the naming of mothership aircraft White Knight Two "Eve" after his mother Eve Branson

 

Richard Branson n Burt Rutan

 

 

 

Answering questions from the media

 

 

Edited July 30, 2008 by MIR

[Pieter C. 5]

Thanks for sharing the pictures, MIR

 

Richard, well done (esp. with placing the Virgin America 320 in the back : excellent promotion)

[Azman MN 1]

and how much did our govt. spend sending that guy into space last year???

 

 

[Kenneth T 0]

Wow, the plane is fantastic. Richard Branson is a very creative guy. If his plan is successful, he will be the pioneer of such programme.

[MIR 2]

and how much did our govt. spend sending that guy into space last year???

 

Cost of sending a Malaysian space tourist last year(approximately USD 30 million) = cost of 150 people flying with Virgin Galactic.

Edited July 31, 2008 by MIR

[Yusoff 1]

Wow... He still has his parents around. How old are they? ... hmm....

Edited July 31, 2008 by Yusoff

[BC Tam 2]

Cost of sending a Malaysian space tourist last year(approximately USD 30 million) = cost of 150 people flying with Virgin Galactic.

No lah, cannot make direct comparisons like such

I believe our Datuk Dr Angkasanaut was travelling 5-star, with language tutelage and extensive PR lessons thrown in

Those on the Virgin Galactics, goodness knows what they will have to put up with in future

 

How can compare luxuriating in F on FSVC MAS with enduring LCC on AK ?

Edited July 31, 2008 by BC Tam

[Azman MN 1]

No lah, cannot make direct comparisons like such

I believe our Datuk Dr Angkasanaut was travelling 5-star, with language tutelage and extensive PR lessons thrown in

Those on the Virgin Galactics, goodness knows what they will have to put up with in future

 

How can compare luxuriating in F on FSVC MAS with enduring LCC on AK ?

 

oh, yes, how can I forget - we do not have to sacrifice our dentist/restaurant/modelling careers if we go Virgin.

 

 

[BC Tam 2]

oh, yes, how can I forget - we do not have to sacrifice our dentist/restaurant/modelling careers if we go Virgin.

Yup, it's all untouched, undefiled, uncharted territory there; inherent risk of not making it all the way; but with perseverance and guile, the climatic reward should be quite satisfying