Comments on: Third glide flight for SpaceShipTwo

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:56:52 +0000

I would imagine they will continue to characterize the airframe through a few more glide tests. From there I would imagine it will be on tests of the feathering system. With feathering testing complete I’d expect powered test flights to begin.

By: F. E. Harris

F. E. Harris — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:50:07 +0000

Thanks, Jeff. I was hoping they would be willing to do a non-binding e-mail list for a few of us local enthusiasts, but I can see how that could snowball, once the press got onto it. Well, at least I can look forward to announcements of some major milestone flights, some time next year. This story quotes Will Whitehorn, president of VG. "There will be very short firings of the motor, and then we'll extend those burns and we'll start climbing into space," Whitehorn told SPACE.com. "I think we can pretty safely say now that we'll be in space in 2011.

By: Jeff Foust

Jeff Foust — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:39:21 +0000

F.E. Harris: routine test flights are not announced in advance, unfortunately. Even the first glide flight in October was not announced in advance by Scaled or Virgin, although Popular Mechanics did find out about it a day in advance. Major milestones (including down the road, most likely, the first flight into space) are publicized in advance by Virgin in particular, although not necessarily open to the public.

By: Aviation News November 19, 2010 :: N8JW

Aviation News November 19, 2010 :: N8JW — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:28:43 +0000

[…] Third glide flight for SpaceShipTwo from Personal Spaceflight Scaled Composites carried out a third glide test flight of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) on Wednesday. According to the companyâ€™s WK2/SS2 flight test logs, SS2 flew free for 11 minutes and 39 seconds after its release from WhiteKnightTwo. There were no major milestones reported for the test, and all test objectives were achieved, according to the log. Those objectives included flying to â€œa more aggressive stall indicationâ€ and a slightly higher airspeed and g-forces. […]

By: F. E. Harris

F. E. Harris — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:32:01 +0000

Hi there,

Where can we find announcements of upcoming flights? I live within driving distance of Mojave spaceport, and would like to go out and see the first powered flight, definitely the first space flight, possibly a glide flight as well.

Is there a e-mailing list?

Sincerely,

F. E. Harris