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Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Blasts Into the Upper Atmosphere 1024
Virgin Galactic conducted a historic first supersonic test flight of SpaceShipTwo on April 29, 2013, in the Mojave Desert, CA.
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Close-Up of SpaceShipTwo During First Rocket-Powered Flight
Credit: Virgin Galactic
Frame from SpaceShipTwo Boom Camera during first rocket-powered flight on April 29, 2013.
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SpaceShipTwo Feathers Its Wings for 1st Time
Credit: Virgin Galactic/Clay Center Observatory
Virgin Galactic's suborbital passenger ship SpaceShipTwo flexes its feathered re-entry system during a pivotal glide test at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on May 4, 2011.
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Virgin Galactic's Fourth SpaceShipTwo Glide Flight
Credit: Michael Fuchs
Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo passenger spacecraft leaves contrails in its wake during a Jan. 13, 2011, glide test, the fourth in a series of demonstration flights.
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Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Solo Glide Flight
Credit: Mark Greenberg
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo makes its first solo test flight Oct. 10, 2010.
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SpaceShipTwo Lands After Feathering Test
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
SpaceShipTwo makes a May 4, 2011, landing on Runway 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Touch down signaled the successful end to the craft's 7th glide test and, for the first time, evaluation of its novel feather re-entry system.
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Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Crewed Flight
Credit: Virgin Galactic.
The Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceliner SpaceShipTwo makes its first crewed flight on July 15, 2010, over the Mojave Desert in California, one of a series of test flights before the first free flight of the passenger ship for space tourism flights.
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SpaceShipTwo Carrier Craft Makes Successful First Flight
Credit: Bill Deaver/Mojave Desert News
WhiteKnightTwo took to the air for the first time Sunday morning, Dec. 21, 2008, following several weeks of taxi tests. The big, twin fuselage airplane took off at 8:17 a.m. PST and landed an hour later to the applause of spectators watching at the Mojave Air and Spaceport.
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SpaceShipTwo's First Solo Test Flight
Credit: Mark Greenberg
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo private suborbital spacecraft makes its first solo test flight on October 10, 2010.
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Test Flight Planned for SpaceShipTwo Carrier
Credit: Alan Radecki
WhiteKnightTwo makes a runway taxi appearance at Mojave Air and Space Port.
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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Spaceliner Completes 2nd Glide Flight
Credit: Bill Deaver
SpaceShipTwo after its 2nd glide test.
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SpaceShipTwo Over Spaceport America
Credit: Barbara David.
The Virgin Galactic suborbital vehicle SpaceShipTwo, called Enterprise, soars over New Mexico's Spaceport America terminal – still under construction – under the belly of its huge mothership WhiteKnightTwo during the spaceport’s runway dedication ceremony on Oct. 22, 2010.
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SpaceShipTwo on Runway After Fourth Glide Flight
Credit: Bill Deaver
SpaceShipTwo is towed back to the hangar Jan. 13, 2011, under the watchful eye of East Kern Airport District Security Chief Mike Sterbens after a successful drop test and landing at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
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SpaceShipTwo Mother Ship Slightly Dinged in Test Flight
Credit: Alan Radecki/Mojave Skies.
The SpaceShipTwo carrier plane WhiteKnightTwo takes off in an April 20, 2009, flight test, a 4-hour endurance trip that marked its longest flight
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Test Flights Ahead for SpaceShipTwo Mothership
Credit: Virgin Galactic.
The SpaceShipTwo mothership WhiteKnightTwo took to the air for the first time on Dec. 21, 2008, following several weeks of taxi tests.
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Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Liner Mothership
Credit: Alan J. Duignan/SPACE.com
Virgin Galatic rolls out mothership "Eve" at Scaled Composities in Mojave on July 28, 2008.
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Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo Carrying SpaceShipTwo Flew Alongside Virgin America’s Airbus A320
Credit: Mark Greenberg/VirginGalactic
Friday, June 17, 2011: Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo mothership carrying SpaceShipTwo flew alongside Virgin America’s Airbus A320, named "My Other Ride Is a Spaceship," to inaugurate San Francisco International Airport (SFO)'s new Terminal 2 on April 6, 2011. SpaceShipTwo is a rocket-powered space plane intended to eventually take passengers to sub-orbital space.
—Tom Chao
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SpaceShipTwo and the Golden Gate Bridge
Credit: Mark Greenberg/Virgin America
Virgin Galactic's private SpaceShipTwo spacecraft and its mothership WhiteKnightTwo flies over the Golden Gate Bridge with the Virgin America plane "My Other Ride is a Spaceship" on April 6, 2011, en route to open Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport.
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SpaceShipTwo Over San Francisco
Credit: Mark Greenberg
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo private spaceliner flies over San Francisco's Bay Area Bridge with the city as a backdrop while en route to San Francisco International Airport with the Virgin America aircraft "My Other Ride is a Spaceship" to open a new terminal at San Francisco International Airport on April 6, 2011.
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SpaceShipTwo Touches Down
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
After its fifth glide test flight – the longest one yet – Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo passenger spaceship touches down on a runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on April 22, 2011.
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A 'Flying Launch Pad' Cruises New Mexico Skies
Credit: Barb Sprungman
WhiteKnightTwo during a low-level flyover June 20, 2009, at the Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico.
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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Lands
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
The private space plane SpaceShipTwo lands after a successful glide test June 21 at Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
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SpaceShipTwo Over the Moon
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo passenger spacecraft and its WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane are seen flying with the moon below during an April 22, 2011, glide test over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
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SpaceShipTwo After Fifth Glide Flight
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
Photojournalist Bill Deaver snapped this photo of Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo spaceliner on the runway after its fifth glide test flight on April 22, 2011, at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
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SpaceShipTwo Mothership Makes Fastest Test Flight
Credit: Robert Scherer
Virgin Galactic's mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, on a test flight from the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California.
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SpaceShipTwo Mothership WhiteKnightTwo in Flight
Credit: Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates
The mothership WhiteKnightTwo soars over Mojave Air and Space Port in California after releasing the private space plane SpaceShipTwo.
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Ground Crews Prep SpaceShipTwo
Credit: Virgin Galactic/Mark Greenberg
Ground crews load nitrous oxide into SpaceShipTwo in preparation for an April 12, 2013 test flight.
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SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo in Flight
Credit: Virgin Galactic
SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo take to the skies an April 12, 2013 test flight.
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SpaceShipTwo’s Rocket Nozzle in Flight
Credit: MarsScientific.com/Clay Center Observatory/Virgin Galactic
For the first time ever, oxidizer flows through SpaceShipTwo’s rocket nozzle in flight, successfully demonstrating key components of the system. The April 12, 2013 test flight was a key milestone in advance of SpaceShipTwo’s first rocket powered flight.
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SpaceshipTwo in Flight Across Skies
Credit: Scaled Composites / Michael Fuchs
For the first time ever, oxidizer flows through SpaceShipTwo’s rocket nozzle in flight, successfully demonstrating key components of the system. The April 12, 2013 test flight was a key milestone in advance of SpaceShipTwo’s first rocket powered flight.
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SpaceShipTwo’s Test Pilots and Engineers
Credit: Virgin Galactic / Mark Greenberg
SpaceShipTwo’s test pilots and some of the engineers who helped design the vehicle are all smiles after a successful test flight on April 12, 2013.
