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Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise completes first solo glide flight
It completed its first flight with a crew on board back in July, and Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise (a.k.a. SpaceShipTwo) has now crossed what's unquestionably its biggest hurdle to date: the first solo glide flight. That happened early Sunday morning at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California, where the VSS Enterprise took off attached to the mothership and then separated at an altitude of 45,000 feet, after which it was freely piloted by Pete Siebold and co-pilot Mike Alsbury for a full eleven minutes before safely landing on the runway (another first for the spaceship). Oh yeah, there's a video -- head on past the break to check it out (along with the official press release).
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes first flight with crew on board
It still has a few more key hurdles to cross, but it looks like Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (a.k.a. the VSS Enterprise) is remaining on track for its first commercial flight sometime next year. The latest milestone is the spacecraft's first flight with a crew on board, which occurred on July 15th at Virgin Galactic's usual base of operations, the Mojave Air and Space Port. As with previous flights, however, SpaceShipTwo remained attached to the VMS Eve "mothership" for the duration of the flight, but it did stay aloft for more than six hours as the crew (including test pilots Peter Siebold, Michael Alsbury) went through a range of tests. Still no word on exactly when SpaceShipTwo will see its first solo flight but, barring any change in plans, that should be the next flight that takes place.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes maiden flight (now with video!)
Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise suborbital aircraft made its first captive carry test flight yesterday in Mojave, California. As shown in the above photo (courtesy of Mark Greenberg), the craft remained attached to the VMS Eve mothership for the entirety of its 2 hour and 54 minute flight, reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet in the process. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft -- which we first peeped in December -- will start commercial operations late next year. Looks like it's time to start saving up those Velocity Points, kids! In the meantime, check out CNET's gallery of shots from the flight by hitting that ever lovin' source link.
