VSS Enterprise completes first flight under its carrier aircraft

This is one wild-looking combo:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/0...ex.html?hpt=T2

Pat

So what are rides on White Knight II going for?

Dave

And everyone shot me down when I made the suggestion, well it's on Sir Richard's radar:

From http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/0...ex.html?hpt=T2

/quote

Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week, with six tourists
aboard. Each will pay $200,000 for the ride and train for at least three days
before going. About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list
for seats.

"What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range
where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and
they never dreamed that [they] could," Branson said last year.

He has said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel,
jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes.
^^^^^^^^^^

/end quote [Sir Richards' claimed statement with my emphasis]

Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my words...

OK, well not with SS2, perhaps, but SS3, or SS4? We'll see....
Sir Richard is crazy, no doubt. Like a fox.

Dave

David Spain writes:

Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my words...

Well maybe not 45 minutes if they plan to serve a meal (and have it retained)
on the flight, but 2 hours would be just fine... ;-)

Dave

On 3/24/2010 12:08 PM, David Spain wrote:
David writes:

Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my words...

Well maybe not 45 minutes if they plan to serve a meal (and have it retained)
on the flight, but 2 hours would be just fine... ;-)

You try to serve them food in zero g, and the thing will become the
Vomit Comet II.
They'll be lucky if around a third of the passengers don't puke within a
couple of minutes of going weightless, even after training.

Pat

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
dakotatelephone...
On 3/24/2010 12:08 PM, David Spain wrote:
David writes:

Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my
words...

Well maybe not 45 minutes if they plan to serve a meal (and have it
retained)
on the flight, but 2 hours would be just fine... ;-)

You try to serve them food in zero g, and the thing will become the Vomit
Comet II.
They'll be lucky if around a third of the passengers don't puke within a
couple of minutes of going weightless, even after training.

Just like the best amusement park rides. ;-)

Jeff
--
"Take heart amid the deepening gloom
that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National
Lampoon

On 3/24/2010 12:02 PM, David Spain wrote:
Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my words...

OK, well not with SS2, perhaps, but SS3, or SS4? We'll see....
Sir Richard is crazy, no doubt. Like a fox.

An airline flight you have to train for?
That sorta defeats the purpose of the speedy flight. :-)
Me, I'd take the Queen Mary 2.
$200,000 could buy you around nine world cruises in economy class on
that ship, or over two top-of-the-line ones with a private suite:
http://book.cunard.com/find/pb/searc...&ship=&dat e=

Pat

In sci.space.history Pat Flannery wrote:
On 3/24/2010 12:02 PM, David Spain wrote:
Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my words...

OK, well not with SS2, perhaps, but SS3, or SS4? We'll see....
Sir Richard is crazy, no doubt. Like a fox.

An airline flight you have to train for?
That sorta defeats the purpose of the speedy flight. :-)
Me, I'd take the Queen Mary 2.
$200,000 could buy you around nine world cruises in economy class on
that ship, or over two top-of-the-line ones with a private suite:
http://book.cunard.com/find/pb/searc...&ship=&dat e=

Sure, but Mal de Mere will still have you puking your guts out - for
days instead of minutes

rick jones
at least the QM2 doesn't look like a container ship for people...
--
web2.0 n, the dot.com reunion tour...
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

On 3/24/2010 2:43 PM, Rick Jones wrote:
Sure, but Mal de Mere will still have you puking your guts out - for
days instead of minutes

rick jones
at least the QM2 doesn't look like a container ship for people...

The outside is okay looking, but the inside is the knockout part.
The Planetarium: http://www.skyskan.com/Company/press/qm2sails.html
For external looks as well as a beautiful interior, it would be hard to
ever beat the Normandie, which looked like a art object as much as a
ship: http://www.lategreatliners.com/france_normandie.htm
They even decked over the bow anchor chains so they wouldn't spoil the
smooth lines of the ship.

Pat

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
. ..
On 3/24/2010 12:02 PM, David Spain wrote:
Virgin Galactic Business Express, LA to Sidney in 45 minutes, mark my
words...

OK, well not with SS2, perhaps, but SS3, or SS4? We'll see....
Sir Richard is crazy, no doubt. Like a fox.

An airline flight you have to train for?
That sorta defeats the purpose of the speedy flight. :-)
Me, I'd take the Queen Mary 2.
$200,000 could buy you around nine world cruises in economy class on that
ship, or over two top-of-the-line ones with a private suite:
http://book.cunard.com/find/pb/searc...&ship=&dat e=

The "astronaut training" is part of the "experience".

Plus, the safety lecture on *every* airline flight is more CYA than anything
else, and this "astronaut training" will be full of CYA information and
training experience. Despite making everyone sign a waiver, when the first
fatal accident happens, you can bet Virgin Galactic will be sued by some of
the best blood thirsty lawyers out there. Providing extensive "astronaut
training" prior to the first flight will be shown in court to prove that the
participants were *fully* informed over a period of days of the dangers they
might expect.

Jeff
--
"Take heart amid the deepening gloom
that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National
Lampoon