Space and astronomy news
On May 4, 2011 Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo achieved a major milestone by flying for the first time using its “feathered” configuration, and the company has now released a close-up video of the flight. Feathering is designed to create drag and slow the ship down after it reenters the atmosphere from eventual suborbital flights taking tourists …
Continue reading “Watch SpaceShipTwo’s First Feathered Flight”
[/caption] Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo achieved a major milestone early Wednesday 4th May 2011, as it successfully demonstrated its unique reentry ‘feather’ configuration for the first time. This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, brings powered test flights and — ultimately — commercial operations a step closer. SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, went …
Continue reading “SpaceShipTwo Successfully Tests “Feathered” Flight”
[/caption] Some might do a double take at this job posting, but it is legit. Virgin Galactic announced today they are looking for pilot-astronauts and are now accepting applications…from qualified candidates. High scores on Aces of the Galaxy or Space Flight Simulator probably doesn’t meet the criteria, so just what does constitute Virgin Galactic’s idea …
Continue reading “Dream Job Posting: Spaceship Pilots Wanted”
[/caption] UPDATE: We’ve already got a sighting! The image above was taken this evening in the UK by science writer Will Gater. Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the ISS on early Monday, March 7, and depending where you live, you might have an opportunity to see the two spaceships flying in tandem. This is an …
Continue reading “Double Spaceship Sighting Alert – and last chance to see Discovery in orbit”
[/caption] Of all the missions and spacecraft that NASA has shelved over the years, I found the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) to personally be one of the most disappointing. While its cancellation resulted in no loss of science and never stranded any astronauts in space, my disappointment was from strictly an aesthetic point of …
Continue reading “The Cutest Little Spaceship that Never Flew”
[/caption] Does this image look futuristic? Well, the future is here, as this is an actual image from October 10, 2010 (today!) Virgin Galactic’s future passenger ship made its first manned glide flight on Sunday. SpaceShipTwo’s unpowered flighted lasted about 11 minutes after the spacecraft was released from its White Knight Two mother ship, Eve, …
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For the first time, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, named the Enterprise, flew with crew on board. While it stayed attached to the “Eve” mothership for the duration of the July 15 flight, Scaled Composites – the builders of the spacecraft – called the flight a “significant milestone as the team marches towards the first solo flights.” …
Continue reading “Virgin’s Spaceship Enterprise Makes First Crewed Flight”
Since this perhaps the fourth-to-the-last space shuttle flight, right now is a great opportunity to see the marvelous sights of International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery flying close in tandem. Depending on where you live, Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning should provide a wonderful opportunity to see the two as the shuttle prepares …
Virgin Galactic, the private aerospace company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, successfully tested the passenger space-plane SpaceShipTwo today. SpaceShipTwo (SS2), is also called the Virgin Space Ship Enterprise, or VSS Enterprise, an obvious tribute to another space vehicle of some note. SS2 was carried to 45,000 feet (13.7km) by its mothership, named WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), or …
Continue reading “First Flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo”
Here are some spaceship pictures. You can make any of these pictures into your computer desktop wallpaper. Just click on an image to enlarge it, and then right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Background”. [/caption] This is a picture of the Apollo 17 landing module “Challenger”. When this picture was taken, Challenger had already descended …