Virgin Galactic successfully tested its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft

Last month , the news appeared on Habré that Grasshopper rocket passed the next successful test. Now there is one more good news for those who still hope to visit space in reality, and not just reading science fiction works. Virgin Galactic conducted the second successful test of SpaceShipTwo, which means that the commercial launch of the project is very close.

SpaceShipTwo, as planned, will “roll” passengers into space and back to Earth. The other day, this spacecraft took off from the Mojave Desert, California, and came back. This time the ship took off to a height of 21 kilometers, which is higher than during the last test flight. In addition, this time a new landing control system was tested, when the wings and tail change position to vertical. According to the company, the special position of the wings and tail during landing reduces the speed of the ship.
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Apparently, the commercial launch of flights will take place already in 2014, and it is unlikely that something will interfere with this if everything continues to go smoothly. According to Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, another significant result was achieved yesterday in the field of space flight (meaning “commercial space”).



Via theverge