Author Topic: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)  (Read 258496 times)

Offline NaN

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #60 on: 08/28/2016 09:21 pm »
The video featured an extremely wide angle fish-eye lens oriented to show a 360-degree view plus ceiling. This distorted features of interest and may have reveled more than than permitted even if public release was intended.

The 'distorted' view is actually intended to let you look around in any direction as if you were there, VR-style but without stereoscopic depth perception. On my phone, I could rotate the phone in any direction around me (360-circle, up, down, etc) and see what lay in that direction. Search youtube for a video "spacex landing on droneship 360 view" to see a similar video, you should play around with different devices and browsers to find one that works correctly next time you see this type of video. My laptop still gives me arrows to move viewing direction around instead of distorting the view.

I didn't get to see the entire video but it gave a good view of the ship from the front and the carrier craft from the rear. The viewpoint was from the walkway through the hangar; I didn't see anything overtly new. Both craft looked to be in good shape and both were being actively worked on. Pity it's been taken down.

Offline Kryten

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #61 on: 09/07/2016 03:34 pm »
Quote
Virgin Galactic ‏@virgingalactic  2m2 minutes ago
#SpaceShipTwo is mated to WhiteKnightTwo and headed outside now. Today, we’re conducting some final mated communications & navigation checks

Offline Star One

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Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #62 on: 09/08/2016 07:12 pm »
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Good morning from Mojave! VSS Unity and WhiteKnightTwo are outside again for a bit of testing. #SpaceShipTwo

Picture on link

https://mobile.twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/773935459684618240

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Today’s flight is planned to be a captive carry flight—where #SpaceShipTwo remains mated to our mothership.

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Like every flight of #SpaceShipTwo, this mission is crewed. Two of our pilots in VSS Unity, two more in WhiteKnightTwo

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Virgin Galactic ‏@virgingalactic
Wheels up! WhiteKnightTwo & #SpaceShipTwo are now in the air. This is 1st ever flight of a vehicle built by our sister co, @TheSpaceshipCo
« Last Edit: 09/08/2016 07:17 pm by Star One »

Offline Gliderflyer

Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #63 on: 09/08/2016 07:19 pm »
Just watched it take off from the flightline. It's good to see a spaceship in the air again, even if it is just on a captive carry.
I tried it at home

Offline Gliderflyer

Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #64 on: 09/08/2016 07:22 pm »
Virgin just posted a picture on twitter: https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/773963759161217024
« Last Edit: 09/08/2016 07:23 pm by Gliderflyer »
I tried it at home

Offline Star One

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #65 on: 09/08/2016 07:36 pm »
Update From Mojave: Preparations For Unity’s Flight Test Program

In the near future, our new spaceship, VSS Unity, will take to the skies for the first time. Having spent years designing, manufacturing, and testing the parts and subsystems that make up SpaceShipTwo, followed by several months of thorough and rigorous Integrated Vehicle Ground Testing, we are excited to take Unity into her natural airborne environment for the start of her flight test program.

Experimental flight test programs are by definition open-ended, and to a great extent each test depends on the data from the test that precedes it. There is no guarantee that everything will work perfectly the first time, and like all programs seeking to take bold steps, we will inevitably have times when things don’t go as planned. Our team’s biggest challenge is to use meticulous planning and preparation to ensure that any such setbacks are dealt with safely, and that every outcome, whether it matches our expectations or not, informs and improves future performance.

We are helped greatly in this respect by the fact that VSS Unity is, of course, the second SpaceShipTwo vehicle to undergo flight testing. Our first SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise, flew 54 times prior to its test flight accident, generating an enormous volume of data and experience. These data points helped us build safety improvements into VSS Unity. The data also allow us to plan out a flight test program that is safer and potentially more efficient: in many cases we will be re-confirming measures of vehicle performance rather than experiencing them for the first time. That advantage generates increased levels of confidence and should benefit our rate of progress.

In any human spaceflight program there is, rightly, a high level of attention paid to crew safety—including not only what happens when everything is happening as planned, but also what happens when something unexpected happens at any stage of flight. At Virgin Galactic, this approach is brought sharply into focus by the fact that all our flight tests are crewed by at least two pilots. This means that even for relatively more simple and brief flights, we need to be prepared to run a full abort scenario to bring our pilots home safely.

As a case in point, the very first flight that VSS Unity makes will be what we call a Captive Carry test – the spaceship will remain “mated” to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft (VMS Eve) for the duration of the flight, from takeoff all the way through landing. Although it will be great to see our beautiful new spaceship in the air, VSS Unity will be some way from demonstrating her full potential during that first flight. But this flight isn’t just a dress rehearsal; it is an excellent way to generate valuable test data. Throughout the flight, WhiteKnightTwo will serve as a unique “flying wind tunnel,” letting us safely capture high fidelity aerodynamic performance data on the vehicle. Our pilots, mission controllers, and ground operations teams will gain further experience operating a crewed flight. By bringing the vehicle and our crew home safely after the start of the mission but prior to spacecraft release and rocket ignition, they will effectively also be testing out one of our abort modes. Finally, the flight test will confirm extensive simulation and ground testing by showing the real performance of many subsystems and components at cold temperatures, low atmospheric pressures, and high aircraft-like altitudes.

All of those data points will be very useful for us as we move into what comes next: a series of glide flight tests, during which Unity is released to fly home on her own, followed by rocket-powered flight tests of increasingly ambitious scope.

We could not be more excited to move to this next stage of our test program. After years of important in-factory testing, our engineering and operations team are eager to move out from our hangars and to start testing in the open skies. In addition to providing critical data, the coming captive carry flight will be an emotional milestone for our company—the first time ever that a vehicle built by The Spaceship Company and operated by Virgin Galactic has ever taken to the skies. This journey to flight has been arduous but rewarding, and we can now move forward with the confidence that comes from knowing that every vehicle component, sub-system, and procedure has been tested and re-tested prior to these flights.

We look forward to sharing our next steps with the world. Please stay tuned to this site and our social media channels (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn) for more information as our flight testing program progresses.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/update-from-mojave-preparations-for-unitys-flight-test-program/

Offline PhotoEngineer

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #66 on: 09/08/2016 08:17 pm »
Great to see her just take off. Can't wait till she is flying to space.

Offline Gliderflyer

Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #67 on: 09/08/2016 10:51 pm »
They just landed and are taxiing back to the hangar.
I tried it at home

Offline Eric Hedman

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #68 on: 09/09/2016 12:41 am »
LA Times article on the resumption of the test program:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactic-20160907-snap-story.html

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #69 on: 09/09/2016 10:35 pm »
Star One press release says they well be taking a slow measured approach to test flights, much same as Blue. Slow it seems but faster in long run.

Online catdlr

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #70 on: 09/09/2016 11:56 pm »
Virgin Galactic restarts its flight test program for space tourism

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactic-20160907-snap-story.html

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Online catdlr

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #71 on: 09/10/2016 12:33 am »
Elevating Unity - Episode 1: Captive Carry

 
Virgin Galactic

Published on Sep 9, 2016
On September 8, 2016, our new SpaceShipTwo--VSS Unity--took to the skies for the first time. This is first ever flight of a vehicle built by our manufacturing organization, The Spaceship Company.

In this video, Mike Moses--our Senior Vice President of Operations, and a NASA veteran who oversaw dozens of successful flights to space--helps explain this flight and how it fits into the context of our full testing program.

You can read more about this flight test and about what’s coming next here: http://virg.in/abKzK



Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline Davp99

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #72 on: 09/10/2016 05:23 pm »
Any word on when they will start building # 3 ?
You Only Live Twice

Offline CameronD

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #73 on: 09/12/2016 01:12 am »
Any word on when they will start building # 3 ?

Are you worried they might lose this one too?
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine - however, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

Offline Lars-J

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #74 on: 09/12/2016 04:51 pm »
Any word on when they will start building # 3 ?

Are you worried they might lose this one too?

Once operational, they'll need several to have any chance to meet the fly all their customers in a reasonable time frame.

Offline Kryten

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #75 on: 09/27/2016 03:42 pm »
Quote
Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  11m11 minutes ago
Virgin Galactic’s George Whitesides says next SpaceShipTwo test flight will be a glide flight, taking place in near future. #IAC2016 (3/3)

Offline kch

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #76 on: 09/27/2016 04:00 pm »
Any word on when they will start building # 3 ?

Are you worried they might lose this one too?

Once operational, they'll need several to have any chance to meet the fly all their customers in a reasonable time frame.

Exactly -- I hope they've already started on the next one.

Offline Kryten

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #77 on: 10/29/2016 01:42 pm »
Quote
Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  2m2 minutes ago
At Explorer’s Club space event in NYC this morning, Virgin Galactic’s CJ Sturckow says first glide flight of 2nd SS2 planned for Tuesday.
« Last Edit: 10/29/2016 01:56 pm by Kryten »

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Space Ship Two - General Thread (3)
« Reply #78 on: 10/29/2016 01:45 pm »
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Sturckow said the plan is to “spot check” the glide flight envelope of SS2 and move into powered flight tests in early 2017.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/792360803051663360

Offline Star One

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