Questions tagged [virgin-galactic]
Virgin Galactic is a commercial space tourism company run by Sir Richard Branson. The launch system they have developed involves White Knight Two (carrier aircraft) and Space Ship Two (rocket powered craft carrying tourists). Use for questions about the spacecraft portion only. Questions about the aircraft functions may be asked on Aviation.SE
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Why is (conventional) ramjet not used for 2nd stage of rocket propulsion?
Due to nature of space-rocket launches using "conventional" rocket fuel (fuel+oxidizer, e.g. hydrogen+oxygen), every kilo of fuel that has to be carried impacts the rocket's range in a very nonlinear ...
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Why does Blue Origin claim Virgin Galactic's spaceplane doesn’t have an escape system whereas Virgin Galactic's passengers are wearing parachutes?
https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521631717122059 (mirror):
vs. https://space.stackexchange.com/a/54072/1111 by John Thomas:
[Virgin Galactic's passengers] do appear to be wearing parachutes....
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Does Virgin Galactic experience real weightlessness?
Does Virgin Galatic go into space high enough to experience real weightlessness?
A CNBC article states it's more microgravity centrifugal:
The spacecraft essentially does a slow back flip at the edge ...
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Could the SpaceShipOne fly again?
A similar question to that one, but this one is concerning the suborbital SpaceShipOne spaceplane. Could it be reactivated for space tourism or other purposes? I remember in 2011 some sources stated ...
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What's The Gas Discharge After Landing Finished For SpaceShip2?
What's the gas discharge after landing finished For SpaceShip2?
Why did they did it right after landing finished while crew were on board.
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Will Richard Branson be setting any space firsts by beating Jeff Bezos' launch date?
Virgin Galactic is now saying they will launch Richard Branson on July 11
Dubbed the "Unity 22" mission, this flight on the VSS Unity spacecraft will carry a full crew of two pilots, Dave ...
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Why did Virgin Galactic switch back to HTPB after one launch using thermoplastic polyamide (i.e. nylon)?
A subsection of Second-generation engine in Wikipedia's article on RocketMotorTwo says:
New fuel formulation
Rather than use rubber-based HTPB in the solid portion of the hybrid rocket motor—which ...
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Could the 'anomaly' in the recent Virgin Galactic crash impact the other SpaceShipTwos?
I just found out about today's horrific crash of one of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes, the VSS Enterprise. It apparently was due to an 'anomaly.' I realize that details are still ...
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Why is the SpaceShipTwo being released from 44,300 ft, not from 50,000 ft as originally anticipated?
The VSS Unity is always released at an altitude of 44,300 ft (13.5 km) from the VMS Eve. The SpaceShipTwo was originally anticipated to be released at 50,000 ft (15.2 km) and many media still report ...
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Is Delta the same as SpaceShip III and if not, has SpaceShip III been de facto cancelled?
In the recent months, Virgin Galactic is talking about some Delta spaceship that is about to launch space tourists every week. They want to retire the SpaceShipTwo this year and shall begin flight ...
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Do the passengers in Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft have a parachute or some other way to escape the spacecraft if needs be?
Do the passengers in Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft have a parachute or some other way to escape the spacecraft if needs be?
In the VSS Enterprise crash that occurred on October 31, 2014, the ...
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What would it take to bring VSS Unity over the Kármán line?
There's been a great deal debate about Virgin Galactic calling 50 miles "space", while most use a 100 km Kármán line definition for the term. VSS Unity has exceeded 89 km altitude on two ...
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Why does Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo need a carrier airplane?
Why is a carrier airplane (White Knight Two) used for launching Virgin Galactic's spaceship? Isn't it possible for the spaceship to take off from the ground?
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Why did the SpaceShipTwo's ascent have to be aborted if the feather system wasn't unlocked in time?
One of the circumstances leading to the VSS Enterprise crash was the fear of the pilot to unlock the feather system too late, thus the ascent would have had to be aborted. The feather system must have ...
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Why did Virgin Galactic decide to use a hybrid engine vs liquid on their space ship?
To me, it seems like their business case is very dependent on rapid reuse. With this in mind, using a hybrid engine that would need to be replaced every flight seems very counter intuitive vs a liquid ...
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What are Virgin Galactic Space Suits for? What do they do? What don't they do?
In the CNN video linked below the reporter mentions to Unity 22's Astronaut 004 Sirisha Bandla:
When people think of Virgin Galactic, they’re thinking of giving people new astronaut wings like the ...
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Why did Virgin Galactic choose N2O / HTPB as its fuel?
It seems very exotic compared to something like RP1 or Methane, especially for a vehicle which should be flying a lot and around civilians. Why was this choice made?
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Why does the WhiteKnight2 of Virgin Galactic have so large fuselages?
Since the White Knight Two doesn't transport passengers or cargo, why does it even have a fuselage? Wouldn't a purely wing shaped aircraft be better? Is it simply more convenient to use an existing ...
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Which components are non-reusable after a sub-orbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic?
I wonder which components are non-reusable after a sub-orbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic.
What I have found so far:
https://www.virgingalactic.com/learn/ (mirror):
With the exception of the ...
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What do these patterns on Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity represent, and how are they applied?
The NPR news article Virgin Galactic Space Plane Reaches New Heights In Test Flight links to the Virgin Galactic YouTube video VSS Unity | Third Rocket Powered Flight which is quite beautiful to watch!...
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Why did Unity 22 flight plan call for such a large horizontal velocity during its weightless phase? (1085 kph) Why not go straight up instead?
A quick check of the videos shows Unity 22's apogee of over 86 km, and at that point the displayed speed is 674 mph or about 1085 kph or 18.1 km per minute. During the four minutes of being weightless ...
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Can the Virgin Galactic's feathered rentry system be used for first stage recovery?
The stage seperation for Falcon 9's heaviest launch on 28 August 2022 was at approx 75km altitude and at a speed of 8000km/h.
Virgin Galactic's Spaceship two has a max speed of 4000km/h and a max ...
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Does the US government plan to issue "Astronaut Wings" for anyone passing 80 km forever?
Related and potentially helpful here: What kind of badge will tourists who performed a sub-orbital spaceflight receive? but here I'm asking specifically about the US government's future plans.
The BBC'...
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Is Virgin Galactic still targeting high speed suborbital flights, or just space tourism?
A long time ago I followed the development of Space Ship One and subsequently Space Ship Two. At the time I remember someone (I believe it was Branson) saying that one of the primary uses of their ...
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Feathering Profile Change for Virgin/TSC/Spaceship Two
We know that the Spaceship One and Spaceship Two designs from Virgin Galactic/The Spaceship Company/Scaled Composites employ feathering for aerobraking and maneuverability. I can't seem to track down ...
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Do forward thinking launch providers like SpaceX, Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic fund any carbon nanotube research?
Elon Musk has indicated (ex.: Tweet) that he has little interest in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with respect to the concept of an orbital elevator, claiming in essence that the development is simply not ...
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What does it take for a craft to perform a flight simulating weightlessness without having to fly a steep parabola/ellipse?
Alright, I'll try to ask a better question on what I mean so that we figure out how one becomes weightless in a craft without having to fly steep parabolae. Other than flying parabolae or nose-down ...
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How long do the ascent and the descent of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft take?
The VMS Eve mothership releases the VSS Unity spacecraft after ca. 48 minutes. The total duration is approximately 2 hours. As a result, the ascent time + the descent time that the Virgin Galactic's ...
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During their climb, when did/do the SpaceShipOne and Two pilots lose all or most of aerodynamic control over the spaceplane?
When, at what altitude and speed, did the pilots of SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo lose all or most of aerodynamic control over their spaceplane when rising into space? The SS1 and SS2 conducted five ...
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Are Virgin Galactic tourists asked to take a 6 to 8G centrifuge test to qualify, and if so, what's the point?
Regarding sub-orbital spaceflights with Virgin Galactic,
claims that:
Allegedly some travelers were asked to take a 6 to 8G centrifuge test to qualify
Is that true, ...
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Why did Blue Origin make 5 times more flight tests than Virgin Galactic before sending their founders (Jeff Bezos for BO, R. Branson for VG) to space?
https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521631717122059 (mirror):
Why did Blue Origin make 5 times more flight tests than Virgin Galactic before sending their founders (Jeff Bezos for BO, Richard ...
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Unity 22's ground track; which direction was it moving horizontally at 1085 kph during its weightless phase?
update: According to The Newyorker's The Red Warning Light on Richard Branson’s Space Flight there is FR24 data available.
A quick check of the videos shows Virgin Galactic's Unity 22's apogee of ...
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Is suborbital point-to-point flight on the SpaceShipTwo possible?
As of until now, both the SpaceShipTwo and its retired predecessor the SpaceShipOne, landed on the same spaceport they launched from in their spaceflights, the Mojave air- and spaceport. I wonder ...
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Why is SpaceShipTwo's nozzle scarfed? [duplicate]
As seen in this photo (from here) there appears to be a significant scarf to the nozzle.
I'm familiar with scarfing reaction control jet nozzles to fit fuselage contours, but this one is completely ...
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What kind of badge will tourists who performed a sub-orbital spaceflight receive?
I have read that tourists who performed a sub-orbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic will receive some kind of astronaut badge. However, on the Wikipedia page on the United States Astronaut Badge, ...
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When is the SpaceShipTwo dropped from mothership?
When (after launching the mothership) is the VSS Unity dropped from the mothership and at which altitude?
I mean in space flights (above 80 km)
More or less, of course
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Payloads and orbits Virgin Galactic's Launcher 1 can provide, comparison to Electron?
What type of payload and orbit will Virgin Galactic's Launcher-1 be used for? How does it compare to Rocket Labs' Electron in terms of capacity an types of orbits accessible (inclination, altitude)?
...
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Why did the Virgin One launch fail?
What caused the early shutdown of Virgin rocket's upper stage? The previous failure was also due to early shutdown of engine, although that was first stage failure. As per reports available in public, ...
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Virgin Galatic's Weightlessness [duplicate]
Is the gravity pull of the Earth negligible at 50 miles up, or is the weightlessness experience just relative to a falling airframe?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced-gravity_aircraft
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What percentage of the population can pass Virgin Galactic's training sessions for tourists to board a sub-orbital spaceflight?
I read on https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/26/space-tourism-how-spacex-virgin-galactic-blue-origin-axiom-compete.html (mirror):
Additionally, Virgin Galactic has said that passengers will spend three ...
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Can Virgin Galactic's Orbital ship reach ISS
We have all come across theories, concepts proposed missions of orbit tour as a part of space tourism. One such company is Virgin Galactic. I have had read that the SpaceShip2 will have merely 6 mins ...
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Why isn't the engine's Case-Throat-Nozzle reusable in Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo?
I raed on https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/engine-powering-future-civilian-spaceflight-enters-collections-180971493/ (mirror):
RocketMotorTwo is a hybrid rocket motor that ...
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Are the SpaceShipTwo pilots weightless when the craft separates from the WhiteKnightTwo?
From my point of view, when the SpaceShipOne and Two get released from their carrier planes (WhiteKnight and WhiteKnightTwo) they are in free fall, therefore the pilots should become weightless inside ...
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Why does Unity look transparent?
The BBC's Virgin Galactic: Sir Richard Branson rockets to the edge of space includes the image below.
Much of the Unity spacecraft appears (almost) transparent in this image; you can see the blue sky ...
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