Virgin Galactic spaceship completes test flight
A spaceship which will soon take tourists into space has completed its maiden test flight over the California Mojave Desert.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo flew for three hours and reached an altitude of 45,000 feet - all while attached to the wing of its mothership.
For the "captive carry" flight, the rocket plane remained firmly attached to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane - which will eventually take it to 50,000 ft where it will separate and blast off.
From there it will climb to 60 miles above the Earth's surface, enabling suborbital space tourists to experience weightlessness… the same sensation experienced by their wallets after paying £120,000 for the flight.
Bosses at Virgin Galactic say test flights will continue into 2011, progressing from captive carry to independent glide and then powered flight.
It is only after this that the 330 people who have already reserved a seat on the commercial operation, costing $200,000 (£120,000) each, will get taken into space.
A spokesperson for the project said: "This is a momentous day for the Scaled and Virgin Teams. The captive carry flight signifies the start of what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program."
Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo flew for three hours and reached an altitude of 45,000 feet - all while attached to the wing of its mothership.
For the "captive carry" flight, the rocket plane remained firmly attached to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane - which will eventually take it to 50,000 ft where it will separate and blast off.
From there it will climb to 60 miles above the Earth's surface, enabling suborbital space tourists to experience weightlessness… the same sensation experienced by their wallets after paying £120,000 for the flight.
It is only after this that the 330 people who have already reserved a seat on the commercial operation, costing $200,000 (£120,000) each, will get taken into space.
A spokesperson for the project said: "This is a momentous day for the Scaled and Virgin Teams. The captive carry flight signifies the start of what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program."