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LOOP News 8 FEB 08: VIRGIN'S MOTHERSHIPWhite Knight Two (WKT) is essentially a 'mothership' which will take-off from the ground and lift the spaceship to the edge of the earth's atmosphere. It's a development of the original White Knight, which successfully flew and launched SpaceShipOne into space for the third time in October 2004 and won the $10m Ansari X Prize. The construction of WK2 mothership, or carrier aircraft, is close to completion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, CA and is expected to begin flight testing in the summer of 2008. It is the world's largest, all carbon composite aircraft, says Virgin Galactic, and has a unique high altitude lift capacity, capable of launching SpaceShipTwo and its eight astronauts into sub-orbital space flight. The WK2 mothership is powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A engines. The WK2 mothership has also been designed to be capable of lifting other payload and launching it into space. Both Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic believe the system has sufficient lifting capability to launch unmanned vehicles designed to carry small satellites and other scientific payload into low earth orbit. Virgin Galactic says, "Astronaut orientation for spaceflight is progressing well and already 80 of SpaceShipTwo's first passengers have been through medical assessment and centrifuge training at the NASTAR facility in Philadelphia. "During their G Force acclimatization program, the participants were spun to 3.5GZ (head to toe) and 6GX (front to back) to simulate the actual flight profile of SpaceShipTwo during a 110km (68 miles) apogee sub-orbital space flight. Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, said, "The designs of both the mothership and the new spaceship are absolutely beautiful and surpass any expectations for the future of commercial spaceflight." W: www.virgingalactic.com |                    | ||||||
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‘Star’ treatment for first UK-based Cessna ‘entry-level’ jetTHE first of the new Cessna Mustang jets to be based ... more
VIRGIN Galactic has unveiled the design of the White Knight Two which will launch its passenger-carrying spaceship.White K ... more
A NEW Italian twin has had its first flight. It is the 'Skycar', designed and built by aerospace engineering company Oma S ... more | ||||
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