
Together with its mothership WhiteKnightTwo
(named "VSS Eve" after Branson's mother), SpaceShipTwo is the largest all-carbon-fiber aircraft ever built, which means it is lightweight and conserves fuel. The plane will carry two pilots and six passengers to the edge of space for about five minutes of weightlessness before gliding back to Earth. A ticket costs $200,000, but over time the price should drop as demand and competition increase.
Virgin has released photos of the SpaceShipTwo unveiling on its website and in a press release. A more detailed press release explained their vision for the future of commercial spaceflight. Today's public roll out on a cold, windy evening was the first time Eve and Enterprise have left their hangar together. Virgin hasn't released many photos yet, but there are plenty of stunning ones over at Spaceflight Now and Hyperbola. Jeff Foust put together a nice slideshow on Flickr, and a video of the roll out is now available from Parabolic Arc. The story was well covered by the news media and bloggers, with good articles at SPACE.com and the BBC.
Virgin Galactic's promotional video includes photos and animations of the Virgin Galactic flight experience. It also features interviews with Branson, Rutan, as well as Brian Binnie who piloted SpaceShipOne in 2004 to win the Ansari X PRIZE. I got to meet Rutan when he accepted the prize in St. Louis. This is an exciting time to be alive! I'm optimistic that we are witnessing the birth of a new industry about 100 years after aviation emerged in the early 20th century.
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