A carrier aircraft for Virgin Galactic's commercial space
launch system completed its longest and fastest test flight to date on
Wednesday.
That marked the third flight for WhiteKnightTwo, which
had its maiden
test flight at the end of last year. The twin-fuselage aircraft flew for more
than two and a half hours, reaching a maximum speed of 161 mph and an altitude
of over 18,000 feet (3.4 mi).
WhiteKnightTwo is slated to carry SpaceShipTwo as part of
a reusable
spaceliner fleet designed by aerospace veteran Burt Rutan and his company
Scaled Composites. The world's largest all-carbon-composite aircraft bears the
name "Eve" in honor of the mother of Sir Richard Branson, British
entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tourism
business.
"Now the stratosphere is the limit as we will
continually test Eve for the next few months up to her ceiling of above 50,000
feet," said Peter Siebold, test pilot for WhiteKnightTwo during its first
three flights.
Siebold conducted many tests during WhiteKnightTwo's
third flight that were meant to raise
the bar on altitude and flight-duration, but also addressed technical
issues including in-flight engine restarts and engine thrust asymmetry
assessment.
The all-carbon composite aircraft has a U.S.
coast-to-coast range, and is slated to support up to four daily
space flights, night or day. It could also potentially launch an unmanned
rocket capable of putting a satellite into low-Earth orbit.
Tourists would pay a price tag of $200,000 to get a brief
ride into space (at least 62 miles above Earth's surface) on the two-pilot,
six-passenger SpaceShipTwo. Virgin Galactic has previously stated its intent to
conduct test flights with WhiteKnightTwo carrying SpaceShipTwo in the second
half of 2009.
"I am looking forward to flying myself in Eve in the
next few weeks before we attach SpaceShipTwo later in the year and begin test
flights to space shortly afterwards!" Branson said.
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