VSS Enterprise - First Crewed Flight
Discussion
http://www.virgin.com/travel/news/vss-enterprise-m...
VSS Enterprise has completed its first crewed flight at the Mojave Air and Spaceport CA.
On July 15th Scaled Composites and the Virgin Galactic team reached the milestone as VSS Enterprise flew with two crew members on board.
The spaceship was, as planned, attached to VMS Eve (captive) for the duration of the flight.
All of the spaceship's functions and systems were evaluated by the on board crew members, while many other vehicle systems tests were carried out too.
VSS Enterprise has completed its first crewed flight at the Mojave Air and Spaceport CA.
On July 15th Scaled Composites and the Virgin Galactic team reached the milestone as VSS Enterprise flew with two crew members on board.
The spaceship was, as planned, attached to VMS Eve (captive) for the duration of the flight.
All of the spaceship's functions and systems were evaluated by the on board crew members, while many other vehicle systems tests were carried out too.
ccr32 said:
Is it possible to build an orbital spacecraft that launches from an airborne launch vehicle such as that of the Virgin one? Just wondering if, providing it is successful, this type of platform could be considered for future use of launching things into orbit.
Yes - the Pegasus booster is launched this way.
Pegasus can only carry relatively small payloads into orbit.
The problem is energy.
In order to achieve a stable orbit, a spacecraft must achieve an altitude of at least 100 to 200 miles and a speed relative to the ground of 17,500 mph. To do that a huge amount of fuel is required. Large amounts of fuel means large amounts of weight. More weight = more fuel = more weight etc.
For a spacecraft to carry even one man into orbit, you would need a huge aeroplane to lift the entire rocket, its fuel and its human payload.
This is the size of rocket we are talking about -
That is John Glenn's 1962 launch atop an Atlas ICBM. OK, in modern times the capsule would be built of lighter, composite materials and perhaps the rocket engines would be more efficient - but I reckon it would take a rocket at least 2/3 the size of Glenn's Atlas to get a man into space, even today.
Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 20th July 14:16
Ah ha! You know what, I drove past one of these (the "Stargazer") in Mojave Desert a few years ago and wondered what it was - thought it might have been one of the vomit comets at the time.
ETA - thanks for the additional info Eric, always makes good reading!
ETA - thanks for the additional info Eric, always makes good reading!
Edited by ccr32 on Tuesday 20th July 14:20
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