Virgin Galactic, a private company whose goal is to send tourists to space in the near future, created a supersonic plane that was able to reach space. The plane successfully soared into the upper reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday for a milestone flight.
CNN Business reported that the rocket-powered plane, VSS Unity, was flown by two veteran pilots to a maximum altitude of 51.4 miles, surpassing the 50-mile mark that the U.S. government recognizes as the edge of space. The government uses the 50-mile mark to award astronaut wings.
The test flight took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California at 7:11 am PT. Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic’s founder, was at the launch watching with a crowd of spectators. “I hope we go to space today,” Branson said ahead of liftoff. VSS Unity took off attached to its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo. When they were about 43,000 feet in the air, VSS Unity’s pilots commanded the plane’s release from the mothership. After a few seconds of coasting, VSS Unity’s rocket engine engaged and drove the vehicle directly upward at supersonic speeds.
There has still been no word from Virgin Galactic of when the company plans to be ready to take people into space. “Incremental flight test programs are by definition open-ended and, to a great extent, each test depends on the data from the test that precedes it,” the company said. “There is no guarantee that everything will work perfectly first time and, like all programs seeking to take bold steps, we will inevitably have times when things don’t go as planned.”
Virgin Galactic is set up to compete with Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000 to offer suborbital tourism flights. Both companies are still in the testing phase, however, Blue Origin has yet to sell any tickets yet. Virgin Galactic has already sold some tickets from $200,000 to $250,000 and some of those have been waiting for a decade to take the expensive flight.
When asked about Virgin Galactic’s competitors in a recent interview with CNN Business, Branson said it was not a “race” to see who could make it to space first, instead, safety is key. “Safety’s all that matters if you’re putting people into space,” he said.
Cool! Another white Anglo-Saxon, doing what we do best! SCIENCE!
Very true. That thing is cool as heck. Too bad I can never afford a ticket. Meanwhile, in Africa they are drinking dirty water out of a ditch that runs by the shack.
Article on Drudge about South Africa. One of them is advocating killing white’s. Including their cats and dogs. I pity any white’s that remain in South Africa. Of course, nothing in the MS in the US or Europe. A few stories in the UK.
Coloreds are going to beg for whites to return to Africa once they realize their new Chinese masters view them as subhuman. China has killed how many of their own population? Killing subhuman coloreds will be easy, for them.
This comes down to IQ. The Chinese will win. Eventually Africans will be crying for the white man to save them. I hope no one shows up.
Yes they have doomed themselves, for without the white farmer, famine is assured there.
Aye.
China considers Americans barbarians let alone Africans. It’s doubtful that China has communist political designs over Africa. The rise against the bourgeoisie is history as the Chinese are the bourgeoisie. China will put puppet governments in power, China will buy the valuable Realestate and resources while using the indigenous labor. Chinas building of aircraft carriers are not for use against the US. They are for the inevitable guerrilla forces that will be funded and equipped by the CIA to overthrow the aforementioned puppet governments. It’s all about economic control via resources. It’s far easier to get your Africans to kill other Africans for you than to use your own troops.
Can anyone spare a fellow American $250,000?
Where is the photo of Earth taken from that height? Or one taken from any of the satellites supposedly up there.
Flat-Earth people will just continue to deny whatever they see, no matter what.
It is truly astounding that people actually think the earth is flat.
Certainly not flat – it’s Hollow!
It’s called Google Earth, dipshit.
I am open to the idea, that someone might just be lying to me, under the color of authority.
But, I don’t understand the need for a crystalline firmament, if all of the different realms exist on the surface of the Earth, which goes on, forever.
What is it separating us from, or what is it keeping inside. How can it be a place, to hang the stars, if those are just landmasses, visible in the distance.
The comments about flight testing are total BS.
I spent twenty years in a flight testing organization.
You test to verify your design performance, to establish
limits, and constraints. Testing is expensive and you go up with a very specific plan. You aren’t up there seeing
if what you made can do something new, special,
and unexpected. We are long past the Chuck Yeager
days.
A lot of people could experience momentary weightlessness which is a fraction of the cost of crossing into the boundary of space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9pkjHWAZLs
Notice how the hair moves. You don’t see that on the phony space station.
Been there, done that. Flying the Vomit Comet that is. (although I never had anyone actually vomit). The fun part is yanking back the yoke and slamming them into the floor 🙂
Do you have to be cleared, not on a list, or will $250,000.00 be accepted from anyone who can pay? I would like two tickets in first class. Put it on my American Express.
_
Money talks. They don’t need no stinkin list.
If they can make it to space, they will have done it before NASA.
Thank God the Earth is flat, the Universe revolves around it, and it really is still the fifth century…