Space Ship Two Fires Its Engine
Virgin Galactic Breaks Speed of Sound in First Rocket-powered Flight of SpaceShipTwo (with video)
“Today, Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJC, completed the first rocket-powered flight of its space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2). The test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing prior to commercial service from Spaceport America in New Mexico.”
Wow that looks cool 🙂
You mean that condensation phenomenon seen before the shock in some jets when flying in humid air? The relative humidity at that altitude is likely fairly low.
Lovely. I really have to hand it to these guys. They control their PR well, they do a lot of testing, and they don’t splash every little test in the news. So when they do put something into the press it shows significant progress since the previous press release and makes them look good. The whole operation seems very professional to me.
It sounds like before long we’ll find out whether there really is a budding space tourism market. It will educational to compare the per seat price tag to what has been predicted by various parties over the years.
noah:
The air is so thin up there that they ride it like greased pole too. Speed of sound in less then 20 seconds (from a running head start, mind you :)).
Like SpaceShipOne, this new craft will use cold gas jets to hold coarse and maneuver when the air is too thin for the wings.
tinker
That is great to see a flight test, The engine seems to be running leaner, maybe they are using plexiglas instead of rubber.
Steven:
Plexiglas? No joke? Not knowing what will burn in a hybrid motor, I can’t tell.
Folks:
Interesting note on hybrid rocket motors: Russia is considering using them for landing rockets for the follow-on spacecraft to the Soyuz. They would jettison the heat shield to expose the landing legs and motors minutes before landing. No mention of how long they would stay on parachute, whether it too gets jettisoned or stays attached all the way down. the spacecraft look a lot like Dragon.
tinker
tinker,
Hybrids will work using plexiglass, paraffin, acrylic and many other solid carbohydrates as the fuel. Examples on YouTube.
Doc:
Ah yes, I see now. Lots of research being done in the model rocket scene (although the definition of ‘model’ is stretched a bit considering the size of some of them:)).
Carbohydrates? Has anyone tried a sugar rocket yet?
tinker
Sugar’s been tried a few times – currently there’s the Sugar Shot to Space project (SS2S). They have a website etc
I’ve seen hybrid fuel grains made using pepperoni, bacon, and hard salami.
A bacon rocket would become the internet’s memegasm for years.
The Irish are rumored to be working on a potato rocket. I suggest calling it Spudnick.
Well, at least we know that the thing flies under power without falling to bits! Now we need to find out if it can fly the mission profile!
Any thoughts on the asymmetry of the exit nozzle? Does that change the thrust vector a little bit? Would it reduce flutter of the nozzle during re-entry?
Rutan’s designs and the vehicles evolved from them often have aerodynamic tweaks applied after a few tests; dihedral winglets, extra control surfaces, etc, so I am curious if this change addresses something they’ve uncovered during testing.
I just thought was due to the fisheye warping of the camera at first but now I think you’re right as the surface right next to the nozzle is more normal looking. I am curious now too.