Comments on: Report raises new questions about Virgin Galactic

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 17 May 2014 04:18:14 +0000

>VG has so far refused to return ticket deposits

Source on this? Their website clearly states that deposits are fully refundable. Seems like they’re opening themselves to some legal issues if they say they’ll refund tickets but then won’t.

Also, it seems like they would take that statement down if they had no intention of fulfilling it.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 12 May 2014 16:48:20 +0000

When does Virgin Galactic plan to return the security deposits of the passengers it has pre-sold tickets to?
Can they just keep the money forever?
Seems like they are about five years behind schedule to fly per their promises to sell tickets.
We keep hearing talk of a Grand Jury being sequestered to look into the many issues surrounding Spaceport America and VG and the word is that VG has so far refused to return ticket deposits.
Are the deposits in an escrow account and protected or has the money gone directly to Branson and been spent on other activities?

By: D. Messier

D. Messier — Mon, 12 May 2014 03:36:20 +0000

A nice summary, Jeff.

One clarification: the static fire I witnessed on Thursday was in all probability a nylon-nitrous oxide motor. Scaled is developing it as an alternative to the Sierra Nevada rubber-nitrous oxide engine that SpaceShipTwo has flown with to date.

My sources tell me the nylon engine would be installed on the second SpaceShipTwo built. The first SpaceShipTwo is being modified to accommodate a modified SNC rubber-nitrous engine. The mods will allow them to fire the engine much longer than the 20 seconds they have done in flight thus far.

It not clear whether there has been continued ground testing of the modified rubber engine, although it would make sense. I haven’t seen any firings, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been done. The RM2 hot fire summaries page on the Scaled website is so lacking in detail that it’s impossible to tell what they’ve tested or the lengths of the burns.

The current four month gap in flights was originally driven by the engine mods to SpaceShipTwo. And there was a need to replace the landing gear. Then the cracks in the wings were discovered. One source told me that VG’s inspection of WK2 was to satisfy the FAA.

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 12 May 2014 01:09:45 +0000

That’s not the point. It’s pretty clear that Branson either took no notice when his technical people advised him of the issues and possible delays or simply didn’t receive that advice. They took a gamble that SS1 and WK1 were scalable and it’s looking a bit like they’ve lost. NASA did the same thing with Orion and they are similarly trying to deal with the consequences – technological issues resulting in increased budgets and slipping schedules.`

By: pat bahn

pat bahn — Mon, 12 May 2014 00:46:05 +0000

“We are doing it right and we are taking our time”

Well said, manned space is no place to get GO fever.