Yesterday, Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity Spaceplane Travels At Mach 1.9 And Reaches 114,500 Feet

On May 29, the Virgin Galactic's spaceplane, the VSS Unity, had a second successful launch, nearly four years after the Oct. 31, 2014 crash of another Virgin Galactic spaceplane, which claimed the life of a test pilot.



Yesterday, was the spaceplane's second supersonic flight, which was conducted over the Mojave Desert in California. The flight tested the spaceplane's handling characteristics and the performance of its control systems, while reaching a speed of Mach 1.9, at a maximum altitude of 114,500 feet.

Virgin Galactic is one of a small handful of companies that intend to give paying customers a chance to make brief flights into space. Among the other companies are Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin company, which has completed several tests of its New Shepard rocket and capsule system.

Virgin Galactic has been mum about exactly when it might begin taking customers into space. But earlier this month, Branson told the BBC that "we're talking about months away, not years away."

www.nbcnews.com...

Once in commercial service, Virgin Galactic’s spaceships are designed to be turned around and flown at a higher frequency than has traditionally been the case for human spaceflight.

www.virgingalactic.com...

Just me, or did that climb look unstable as hell? Seemed like more shaking than I'd be comfortable with at mach speeds...

Is that normal?

a reply to: shawmanfromny

I can hear flat earth'rs gulp in desperation.


This is a step in the right direction. Hopefully in my lifetime moon transits will be a few ten grand

a reply to: seaswine

Yeah, I noticed that too. Seems those two long tails need more bracing. I wonder what caused the crash back in 2014?

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
a reply to: seaswine

I wonder what caused the crash back in 2014?

From memory, it was human error...

a reply to: seaswine

Yeah, not just you. It looked unstable AF. I don't think I'd get on it.

a reply to: seaswine

Looked like the upper level wind was a little squirrelly.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

One of the pilots engaged the feathering system too early and over stressed the airframe.

a reply to: seaswine

Had problems with combustion instability in the onboard rocket motor

Uses a hybrid motor with solid rubber fuel and liquid oxidizer (nitrous oxide N2O)

Chucks of the rubber fuel would break off during burn and fly out the nozzle