Planned Arrival On Opening Day Of Annual Show
As the era of clean, safe, and affordable access to space dawns,
the pioneers at Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites have again
chosen EAA AirVenture Oshkosh as the stage for unveiling their
innovations. Assuming that Scaled completes its initial flight test
program on schedule, space launch vehicle Virgin Mothership (VMS)
Eve will make its world public debut on July 27 at EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2009.
The space launch vehicle will arrive as part of the opening-day
air show. AirVenture attendees will have opportunities for up-close
viewing of the vehicle on the ground each day until its departure
flight as part of the Saturday, August 1 air show. Event organizers
and Virgin Galactic officials are hopeful to arrange additional
showcase flights during the week.
"This will be a major highlight of our event. Since the
appearance of the X-Prize-winning WhiteKnight and SpaceShipOne at
AirVenture four years ago, our members have eagerly awaited the
next advancements from the Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites
innovators," said EAA president and AirVenture chairman Tom
Poberezny.
"Burt Rutan, the chief designer of Virgin Galactic's launch
vehicle and spacecraft, truly embodies the EAA spirit. His
accomplishments show how far our passion for building and flying
aircraft can go. Over the decades, this EAA member has created some
of the world's most inventive designs, including the vehicles that
will take private-citizen astronauts into space. We're all eager to
welcome Burt and his team back to Oshkosh," Poberezny said.
"Likewise, the EAA community is eager to applaud Virgin Galactic
for employing corporate muscle and mettle to bring ambitious dreams
within reach."
Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic, called VMS Eve
"both visually remarkable and represents ground-breaking aerospace
technology.
"It has a unique heavy lift, high
altitude capability and an open architecture driven design that
provides for maximum versatility in the weight, mass, and volume of
its payload potential," he added. "VMS Eve is capable of lifting
SpaceShipTwo, an unmanned satellite launch or space science vehicle
and also being capable of use as an astronaut training vehicle. Its
carbon composite construction also gives unprecedented fuel
efficiency and the strength to perform high g maneuvers and
parabolic flight," he said.
According to Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic plans to conduct test
flights of VMS Eve carrying SpaceShipTwo during the second half of
2009.
Dwarfing its namesake predecessor, WhiteKnightTwo is the world's
largest all carbon composite flying vehicle. The 140-foot wingspan
is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever
manufactured. The launch vehicle's mission will include ferrying
SpaceShipTwo, carrying passengers, science packages and payload on
the first stage of the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space
experience.
As ANN reported earlier this week, WK2 may
also be used as an aerial launch platform for commercial, orbital
payloads.