Aircraft Christened "VMS Eve" by Sir Richard Branson's Mother,
Eve Branson
by ANN Correspondent Larry Stencel
At 8:35AM PST Monday at Mojave, CA the Virgin Galactic White
Knight Two aircraft was officially unveiled to the public and media
for the first time. Sir Richard Branson's Mother, Eve, was on hand
to christen the ship, "Eve."
Following the media rollout, the launch vehicle was unveiled a
second time to its ultimate customer base of 270 paid customers
plus other interested end users. More than 100 future Virgin
Galactic astronauts were flown into Mojave on a Virgin chartered
A320 Airbus to be on-hand for the media event.
Within the hour of unveiling, Will Whitehorn, President of
Virgin Galactic, and Bob Morgan, Chief Engineer, granted a live
question and answer interview session to EAA Oshkosh media
assembled at the EAA Air Museum Vette Auditorium. Starting with a
movie made specially for the EAA on Sunday, July 27, the aircraft
and a smiling Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan were shown on the
Mojave flight line inspecting the airplane. During the media
question and answer session which followed today's unveiling, it
quickly became evident this will be a most amazing aircraft which
will open new frontiers in aviation as it we currently know it.
When fully tested and certified by the FAA for flight, the White
Knight Two will ultimately carry Space Ship Two aloft to ~50,000
feet -- a mission-optimized altitude identical to that used by
Space Ship One -- where it will drop Space Ship Two and up to six
fare-paying passengers and two crew for flights into suborbital
altitudes. It's maximum speed will be 2,600MPG or Mach 3.5 with an
apogee altitude of 70 miles. It was also revealed that Space Ship
Two could carry a single person into low orbital flight of 110KM
altitude. Both White Knight Two and Space Ship Two have payload
factors three times greater than that of their
predecessors.
Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn stated that Space Ship
Two will contain "the longest single carbon composite aviation
component ever manufactured." Powered by four Pratt and Whitney
PW308A engines mounted in pairs outboard of two widely spaced
fuselages with T-tails -- both ultimately capable of carrying
passengers and crew -- the booms are connected by a 140 foot wing.
The wing bows up in the middle between the fuselages to allow for
taxiing ground clearance for the Space Ship Two when mounted.
While the now 80% complete White Knight Two is not yet ready for
flight test, ground testing has begun. As is the custom at Scaled
Composites, the first flight date will not be announced in advance
but it is expected to occur later in 2008. The subsequent flight
test development program for White Knights Two is expected to take
as much as two years. The cockpit crew stations of the White Knight
Two will mirror that of Space Ship Two such that crew
familiarization and other tasks necessary for flight testing of
Space Ship Two can be done with it's carrier aircraft first. Flight
controls are also identical.
Space Ship Two will be unveiled some time in 2009 and first
captive flight will also occur in 2009.
White Knight Two's thrust to weight ratio at minimum fuel levels
is about one to one. With full fuel, it's ferry range could be as
much as 2,500NM. The certification program for White Knight Two
will include an "open architecture" format for other uses such as
carrying spare airline engines, UAVs, water bombing (using a
captive carry tank), as well as other aerospace related
applications. It will ultimately be possible for both fuselage
cabins to be occupied such that crew training could occur during
Space Ship Two launches. Friends or family members of Virgin
Galactic astronauts could also witness the launch from White Knight
Two in flight. Initially, however, the left hand boom will be
unoccupied.
It is also envisioned that White Knight Two will be operated
from other locations within the US and Europe. Sweden, the United
Kingdom and Spain are currently being considered.
Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites have formed a new Company,
"The Space Ship Company," (TSC) to ultimately develop and market
the White Knight Two design for other purposes. The first five
Space Ship Two's and the first two White Knight Two's will be owned
by Virgin Galactic as operator and manufacturer.
When asked when White Knight Two could be expected at
AirVenture, Will Whitehorn stated that it was entirely within the
realm of possibility that it could be in 2009.
Branson, Burt Rutan and Will Whitehorn will travel to Oshkosh
early Tuesday, and will be on-hand to talk about White Knight Two
at the Honda Pavilion at 1PM. At 8:50PM in the Theater In The
Woods, Burt Rutan and Will Whitehorn will also deliver an evening
program.