Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo First "Feathered" Flight
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- Courtesy: Virgin Galactic www.virgingalac...
Early on Wednesday 4th May 2011, in the skies above Mojave Air and Spaceport CA, SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spaceship, demonstrated its unique reentry 'feather' configuration for the first time. This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, marks another major milestone on the path to powered test flights and commercial operations.
SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, has now flown solo seven times since its public roll-out in December 2009 and since the completion of its ground and captive -carry test program.
This latest flight saw a 6:43AM (local) runway take off for VSS Enterprise, attached to its WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft, VMS Eve. At the controls of the of the spaceship were Scaled Composites' test pilots Pete Siebold and Clint Nichols whilst Mark Stucky, Brian Maisler and Brandon Inks crewed the purpose built, all composite, twin fuselage WK2.
After a 45 minute climb to the desired altitude of 51,500 feet, SS2 was released cleanly from VMS Eve and established a stable glide profile before deploying, for the first time, its re-entry or "feathered" configuration by rotating the tail section of the vehicle upwards to a 65 degree angle to the fuselage. It remained in this configuration with the vehicle's body at a level pitch for approximately 1 minute and 15 seconds whilst descending, almost vertically, at around 15,500 feet per minute, slowed by the powerful shuttlecock-like drag created by the raised tail section. At around 33,500 feet the pilots reconfigured the spaceship to its normal glide mode and executed a smooth runway touch down, approximately 11 minutes and 5 seconds after its release from VMS Eve.
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![เขามัทรี - เอ็กซ์ ศุภกฤต - จอนนี่มิวสิค [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/AS9ufKuQIVs/mqdefault.jpg)
Seven years later and this first feathered slight still gives me goosebumps. The subsequent loss of the Enterprise was such an immense tragedy, but it makes me happy to know that Virgin isn't giving up and is working out the kinks to this new technology that could give so many human beings a god's-eye-view of our fragile planet...
Here in august 2021, several weeks after the first official flight. It is amazing to see the public's response to this back then and nowadays.
Amazing! I love the feathered design. I'm so proud that it was executed so well. :)
Virgin was a sponsor for this project and now owns it. Scaled Composites was the company that designed and built SpaceShipOne, which was founded and designed by Burt Rutan, an American.
I've got to admit. It does look beautiful in that glide!
You all are awesome for doing this program. Thanks.
That was actually beautiful to watch. It was like watching a bird in motion.
amazing piece of design and engineering
Scaled Composites the builder of the aircraft and Burt Rutan the aircraft's Chief designer are both American entities. One can also add that it is being tested in The United States as you can clearly see. I do give the eccentric Englishman credit for supporting this idea and funding this project to make it a reality. Thank you Both Burt Rutan and Sir Branson. A fantastic technical achievement. Thanks to this project (suborbital) space tourism may yet be a reality.
what a fantastic looking machine!
This idiotic design already killed one of it's pilots.
Zoltán Kürti you mean human error killed them? They released the lock too early. Its not the feathers fault.
Feathering reentry...this is too cool!
What a beautiful looking aircraft!
VG, & SS2 are good concepts for suborbital trajectories, for flight to orbit, there's a sc/ramjet shaped void to fill to boost the rocket to a speed that can deliver the delta v for the final push to orbit. An ideal would be a scramjet that can survive the hypersonic glide into the lower atmosphere, so it could be reused. If the ramjet can survive the burn, it can probably survive a hypersonic glide above 99% of the atmosphere. There may be less dynamic pressure, but not as much less dynamic heat. Dynamic pressure(drag) is a function of the square of the speed, whereas dynamic energy is proportional to the cube of the speed.
How do you know this stuff man?
I wish him all the success in the world. One day perhaps, they will build a commercial orbital station and host the Global Economic Summit on board. All the heads of state, talking in front of a huge window pointed toward the Earth, so they can see that we ALL live on the same ball of dirt.
Actually, it's not a question about height...the problem is speed. SpaceshipTwo (and the original SpaceShipOne) are suborbital spacecraft because they don't have enough velocity to reach Earth orbit. You have to reach at least 17,000 mph to achieve orbit. And then of course the problem is that when you come back, you have to re-enter the atmosphere at that speed. The Space Shuttle reached up to 3,000 degrees during re-entry.
Makes me chuckle to see so many who had no idea what they're talking about...carry on.
Initially, yes, but I believe Branson himself has stated that his goal is to eventually make space travel accessible to the average person.
i'm sitting on a deck 400ft above the pacific ocean in a 3.5 million dollar estate in big sur, ca. sipping mouton cadet & smoking a strain called, 'big sur holy' out of a volcano vaporizer. no handouts necessary, thank you.
I agree. They all deserve the credit.
Breathtaking!
Don't need a wheel up front. The wheel would just add weight and room. Plus all it has to do is land not take off from the ground. So after a landing they just replace what ever material they have on the end of the skid and it's ready to go again.
so how did they get the camera so fixed on such a fast-moving object.?? that is cool..
Wasn't Siebold involved in that in-flight disintegration of one of the Spaceship 2's?
WTF?!?!? This is amazing!!
What's that thing on the front of the spaceship? The one where the landing gear should be.
But to be fair, I am extremely jealous of those who can afford to be the first to fly in this magnificent machine.
What about the pitch oscillation when in feathered mode?
It is amazing! Greetings from Russia!
You know what, in the end, we as humans are all from the same place. That place is called Planet Earth.
I don’t understand the point of the feather. If anyone would explain it would be nice :)
I am today years old when I realized that Space Ship II does this
Lead Test Pilot has Near Miss with the video crew on the apron. Never the less everybody in charge must have great confidence in Peter's eyesight...or just a case of rude arrogance. Seriously, what the heck?! Besides that unsportsman-like-conduct, a masterpiece of Burt's technical achievements!
how did they get the camera so fixed on such a fast moving object.??
It's sad all the stupid arguing going on in the comments. This is a milestone for mankind, private space travel is becoming a reality. I understand some people lack the ability to think about anything more important than themselves, but for the rest of us, let's stop this crap and enjoy this beautiful accomplishment.
Looks like something from Thunderbirds. Very cool!
@boeingnerd77 what do you mean "other parts"?
I would think the forces on the tails would be enormous. No wonder it broke up the other day. I would think there would be a simpler safer way to slow it down than trying to rip the tails off. I would hope they take the plane apart after each flight and check the cracks in the tail connections. Appears to be a really stupid way to slow it down.
This is BEAUTIFUL. Very exciting...and the aircraft looks spectacular. 🌟 Very Aerodynamic.
Successful flight. 👍
looks like 3 airplanes glued together
Meanwhile 10 years later. There ready to fly 😁👍
I've read that Burt Rutan is already working with Virgin Galactic on a design for a ship that can reach ORBIT! That would be awesome, but I wonder what they would use for heat shielding? Obviously, it would need to be something better and much stronger than the tiles that the Space Shuttle used.
No round trips planned yet, only one-way colonization. It also seems that my phone did not post half of my previous comment. Basically a resume of it would be that artificial gravity can be easily modified from 0 to 2x on ground with a single motor for each enclosed building. It can also be created in a large enough spaceship.
Question about the video here! What's the porpuouse of the feathered flight? What's it necessary for?
I think it allows the plane to be able to drop from the edge of space in a controlled way because it causes drag on the plane just like a badminton shuttlecock, and allows the plane to reenter the atmosphere in a normal orientation even if the plane is not pointing where it should be or upside down. Other spacecraft do this by using thruster rockets on the body of the vehicle and computer flight control systems. Kind of scary, I always thought the feathers would be subject to "flutter" but I'm just guessing on that.
monkeyboy4746
There composite structure is quite stiff, but the vibrations during the "reentry" phase of the flight are extremely strong and loud. This is not going to be a pleasant part of the flight for potential space tourists. It will probably scare the crap out of most passengers and make them wonder if they are going to die.
@@monkeyboy4746 no. Every spacecraft to date reenters with a cone shaped structure, which does all the things you listed without thrusters.
Some TH-camr with stacks of Google money will go up in one and we’ll never hear the end of it.
Well no... it's really not. I don't see anywhere in the description that it says Britain or any part of that region. Yet, I do see California... it's obviously an American-made, semi-orbital space plane.
well what price taged do you think it will eventually be, if the average person will be able to do it in the end because i am not willing to spend more than a £1000?
I couldn't help thinking if the Space Shuttle had been designed like Space Ship Two they would still be in service and next gen Shuttles would have been made.
@ReneeNme The final design will have boosters, it is build to go into space. It will travel around 2500 mph and go begin orbiting Earth.
that's true I agree with u there at least he is spending on something that's making some ppl dreams come true but for most of the ppl in the world space travel will only remain a dream because of the huge cost
I just want a reason to make a "Space" playlist on my Ipod.
thats why the ISS mission is so important, and we will overcome the radiation hazard, it is worst in the belts around planets, especially the bigger ones, but its just a matter of time before such problems are a thing of the past, even if it means sending probes to mine lead in space and build spacecraft with heavy lead and water shielding for long travels, and to overcome 0G is quite easy, just theather the spacecraft and spin it to produce artificial gravity.
Yeah.. this is all fine and dandy but i'll wait until the test period is over and the technology has improved.
Was that an Extra as a Chance plane?
what happened to the other parts either side of it?
It's actually a landing skid. I don't know why they didn't just use a regular nosewheel.
Wheres Peter Siabold?
I'm a big supporter of manned spaceflight and Rutan and company did a great job, but... No one seems to remember or be aware that the heart of the X-Prize competition was two suborbital flights (Spaceship One) carrying a couple of passengers NOT just an equivalent amount of sentimental/ auctionable items (hint-hint, wink-wink) carried as ballast for the ten million dollar prize. In my book the goal was never completed.
Function and beauty!!
Why is it flying with no engine ON ?
This has airplane 2 written all over it
just a skid in the frount? to keep it light i assume?
That's damn right!
Radiation, everybody is talking about radiation, yet you probably don't know how current technology works. We can take a protected vehicle as far as to saturn right now with a simple design of multiple layers. Had we focused on it, we coild spread in the solar system right now.
Rocket motor never fired?
Its been 10 years. Whats taking so long? Just wondering. Other companies move much faster.
How long would it take for that things to land dropped from space? Seems time consuming.
You know what they call a rapid descent from space? "Burning up on re-entry".
Very impressive, but when will Virgin land on the moon & return? Even Wilber & Orville Wright could take off and land in atmosphere. Plus: one bad wind shear could set this thing spinning, not tumbling (rather like a badmitten birdie).
@mm ix without a doubt the space option, this is a landmark for the human race, temporary help to people that gets us no where further is essentially useless.
Sub orbital is relatively easy. You climb straight u to 350,000 feet and then feather back down like a leaf. Horizontal speed is probably less than 500 miles per hour or less. In sub orbital flight space ship 2 cannot feather down, it would burn up since it is hitting air molecules at 17,000 mph. Then there's the problem of weight, emergency landing strips for an abort, life support, space debris, and retro fire. If a retro fire doesn't work once in orbit the space ship 2 will b fucked.
It's Branson's money, so what the fuck? He could spend it on a huge super yacht or a football team or something equally pointless.
Who else wants to see this sucker TAKE OFF from the runway on that rocket? Still, quite an impressive flight, and awesome landing, what with sounding like a spitfire and all.
The feathers must be the trim , good time for the good news, I still think they have a long way to develop the capacitated electrical impulse fan pods.I,m a fan though of the unfortunate nature of how soil has everything to do with it. Maybe It has ballistic range ,skies and water but really the ports like the Chang mission are the important factors. Is is flap control ,throttle. Who designed it again, maybe this is easy to solve at small ports and ideally civil aviation should maybe see the day when it lands with low altitude slow liners.It it Virgin the prima euphoria ,sure it's not the athetic games which is probably a designers dream for varable pressurised gravity couches and all the things you can imagine.
I see what they did there. It's exactly like a para jumper in free fall until they get to a oxygen safe distance.
did they already went in space?
If I could just get over my fear of heights.
This is indeed a great accomplishment for mankind. Now if they could just create a Jetblue Commerical plane too bring me too space that would be awesome Lol.
someone explain this Feather concept.. makes no sense to me...
@ReneeNme well, nasa will have the new vehicle coming in a few years for deep space, finnally something extremely exciting
Why so complicated?
He crashed on one of the test flights that took place at the beginning of testing?
Its for weather. I think its a pitot tube ( for icing conditions )
That looks pretty unstable with the feathers up.... A lot of rockin' and rollin'....
Well it's good job someone has the foresight and the money, plus the balls to put them both together. That someone just happens to be English, but I'm sure that he'd be the first to agree that that means nothing at all. We're just people, all living on the same dirtball in Space.
how on earth do people understand the dude on the intercom that did the separation countdown in the beginning lol i mean if i was on that intercom i'd be pretty much saying, "Sorry could you repeat that?" for the majority of the time lmao
Organic Giraffe it’s much clearer in your headphones
If it was as large as the air france concord it could take more passengers , earn more , without a piggy back ? , .
thank you he understands. this is an american protect though it involves a brit
Good job jason
why i love america....so cool that a private citizen can do this.
Wow, those feathers look VERY fragile!
I got a feeling this design is not Ok.
The aircraft which lifts it to the space also looks dodgy.. Mine is only a hunch..
yeah but this will never be available for the ordinary person in the future the costs will be too great. It never going to be like ppl hopping on a ryanair flight to go to France or Spain from the UK for example.
It will be like going on concorde in the future, only for the rich
This is the descent phase
Virgin Galactic feathered folding tail re entry is reverse of Concord tapered nose takeoff .
What happens to the rest of the plane ? Does anybody know?
SupaHotFire probably it landed back to the airport
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! it stays up in the sky in the cloud garage!
It was a glide test
...The Jetsons days have arrived... Time to go home ...
It’s not a spaceship, it doesn’t even go out of the atmosphere, it only goes into the stratosphere.
@lyokoBSTN the part left and right
Didn't look too stable... hopefully they fixed the problems!
If they could land it 10 years ago, why can't they now?