SpaceShipTwo motor passes test

Valley Press on ^ | Friday, May 29, 2009. | ALLISON GATLIN

[BenLurkin]

The first phase of testing for the rocket motor that will propel SpaceShipTwo into space is successfully completed, officials announced Thursday.

Spacecraft developer Scaled Composites and rocket motor subcontractor SpaceDev completed the first test firings of the hybrid nitrous oxide propulsion system at a San Clemente test site, according to a release by commercial spaceline operator Virgin Galactic.

Once operational, Space­Ship­Two will carry paying passengers as high as 360,000 feet above the Earth, offering a few minutes of weightlessness so the six passengers can float about a roomy cabin.

The carrier aircraft that will air-launch the rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo, the White­KnightTwo, has successfully completed five test flights from the Mojave Air and Space Port, home to Scaled Composites and manufacturing site for WhiteKnightTwo and Space­Ship­Two.

The flights have gradually expanded the flight envelope for the unusual twin-fuselage aircraft, billed as the largest all-carbon-composite high-altitude jet ever made.

According to a Scaled Composites flight log, the May 20 test flight reached 20,000 feet altitude and successfully tested the cabin pressurization and environmental control systems.

Virgin Galactic officials touted the efficiency, safety and low environmental impact of the space launch system and the hybrid rocket motor, which they say is the largest of its kind in the world.

Because the spacecraft is carried aloft by a mother ship and launched at approximately 50,000 feet altitude, the rocket motor burns for a short period of time, using less fuel than ground-launched rockets.

The rocket motor also is controllable and may be shut down at any time, with the spacecraft capable of gliding to a conventional landing, a "significant feature in the overall safety of the Virgin system for human space flight," company officials said.

[BenLurkin]

ping

[shadeaud]

Will they offer peanuts on the flight?

[EggsAckley]

“....nitrous oxide propulsion system...”

Wondering if the noise of the motor sounds like giggling.

[al baby]

Bad boy

[EggsAckley]

It’s just the foggy day kind of humor.

I apologize. ~</;o)

[al baby]

Don’t its the second laugh I had to day the first was when i went to take a shower but this is a family forum

[PapaBear3625]

There's a lot to be said for the efficiency of using an air-breathing jet as a first stage for a rocket. The X-15 program did quite well using B-52s to get their rockets to a good altitude and speed before launch

[valkyry1]

Thanks for the update. Myself I am not a fan of this particular program. I think its going to be a disaster waiting to happen. Time will tell though I guess.

[skeptoid]

This is a unigue contraption.

It may seem otherwise, but there are only TWO aerial vehicles in the photo.

[SunkenCiv]

I wonder if they have any problem *filling* the tank...