Virgin Galactic

[rustyuk]

No comments regarding the recent launch by Virgin means everyone else is as underwhelmed as myself.

The rotation was cool to watch though.

[skwdenyer]

rustyuk said:

No comments regarding the recent launch by Virgin means everyone else is as underwhelmed as myself.

The rotation was cool to watch though.

Nothing new & not even a Shatner cameo for the press But glad for them they’ve reached this milestone.

[DaveTheRave87]

I imagine the "experimental craft for billionaires" market has cooled in the last week or so.

Who's going to take a chance on this?

[MartG]

DaveTheRave87 said:

I imagine the "experimental craft for billionaires" market has cooled in the last week or so.

Who's going to take a chance on this?

Especially when it doesn't actually reach 'space', with an apogee 15km short of the Karman Line

[rustyuk]

Zero-G lasted what 2 minutes? Not sure what they are charging now but it seemed to me more like an experience day type event.

[bloomen]

Nothing suborbital will go beyond a handful of minutes. Dunno whether you get more, less or the same time as the Bezosmobile.

I'd still pay a hefty premium for the rocket launch aspect and it seems like it is considerably more expensive than Virgin.

[skwdenyer]

DaveTheRave87 said:

I imagine the "experimental craft for billionaires" market has cooled in the last week or so.

Who's going to take a chance on this?

I think VG are properly man-rated, unlike Titan, aren’t they?

[ch37]

rustyuk said:

Zero-G lasted what 2 minutes? Not sure what they are charging now but it seemed to me more like an experience day type event.

Strangely difficult to find hard data but some press articles this week were saying you get more zero-G on the Virgin trip than you do in Blue Origin.

[Flooble]

skwdenyer said:

DaveTheRave87 said:

I imagine the "experimental craft for billionaires" market has cooled in the last week or so.

Who's going to take a chance on this?

I think VG are properly man-rated, unlike Titan, aren’t they?

Part 91, and Experimental Airworthiness Certificate

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_...

So only for a certain definition of "properly". (Commercial Aviation of the type where you go on holiday is Part-135 and is definitely not Experimental Airworthiness; this category is closer to someone who's knocked up an aircraft in their garage and is flying it themselves)

[donkmeister]

skwdenyer said:

DaveTheRave87 said:

I imagine the "experimental craft for billionaires" market has cooled in the last week or so.

Who's going to take a chance on this?

I think VG are properly man-rated, unlike Titan, aren’t they?

Also a fuselage that has to handle a pressure differential of 1 bar of static pressure and still fly is arguably easier to engineer than a hull that has to handle a differential of 400 bars and still float.

That's not to claim the former is a piece of piss, I certainly wouldn't belittle the efforts of Rutan et al as they have achieved something amazing. But the failure of Titan was (almost certainly, as the investigation is ongoing) due to it failing to handle a mechanically extreme environment.