VSS Enterprise Flies Over Mojave

More images here:
http://www.virgingalactic.com/multimedia/album/vss-enterprises-first-flight-1/

and the Mk III: "Lunar Carrier" courtesy of Gerry Anderson and SHADO
http://ufoseries.com/preProduction/lunarCarrier.jpg
(Concept artwork by Derek Meddings)

Nice, but let's not forget it's just a suborbital hop nearly half a century after Y. Gagarin and A. Shepard.

This really doesn't count much towards the intended purpose of 'commercial human space'. The issue isn't getting 'into space' but, rather, how to increase one's speed to 25,000 feet/s in order to stay in space and, then, reverse that through aerodynamic braking and heat dissipation.

Well, let's not forget this venture is likely to be PROFITABLE. 200K from 6 passengers + 1.2 Million revenue per flight. Does anyone know or can guess what Virgin Galatic's operating and overhead costs will be per flight?

Unlike NASA's manned spaceflight program, who spends, spends & spends and keeps thousands of people on the government's tit, Sir Richard is planning to make money, which may motivate others to get into the act and truly commercialize space.

"This really doesn't count much towards the intended purpose of 'commercial human space'. "

Not sure that's true. This is potentially a huge step in creating (or at least gauging) the market for human spaceflight. Right now - and for decades - you hear lots of hot air ranging from there being no market for human spaceflight to arguments about how NASA needs to get out of the way of a huge burgeoning demand. Hot air is much fun, but FINALLY we're going to be testing the waters. Virgin Galactic will be providing services at the tip of wedge of the market - the suite of companies looking at orbital commercial flights are in what hopefully will be another part of this same spectrum of initially tourism-driven human spaceflight. IF these efforts work out and there is a market there, this will be the most important time in spaceflight since the 1960's - radically game changing. If not, then we're stuck with the same stuff we've had since the 1970's - state-run spaceflight that's probably limited to LEO or very rare flags-n-footprint trips to the moon at the furthest - stuff that I find interesting (space nerd!), but that much of society views as marginally interesting and of limited value since the end of the space race.

Nice, but let's not forget it's just a suborbital hop nearly half a century after Y. Gagarin and A. Shepard.

And by next year, thousands of Americans will be able to afford to earn their astronaut wings by flying to the edge of space.

The collective societal impact of Virgin Galactic (and hopefully X-Cor) will be more profound and personal than all of the vicarious human spaceflight activities that NASA PAO goes through the motions about.

Spaceflight will soon be a personal adventure. Not just archived videos on NASA TV.

This really doesn't count much towards the intended purpose of 'commercial human space'.

Flying people frequently and safely to the edge of space, even though suborbital, is pivotal for private spaceflight. This is actually a sector that can close on its own business merits without having to depend on NASA space launch demand! (Not to discount the valuable human-tended suborbital science that Alan Stern is leading.)

madscientist, john.k,

I very much doubt these suborbital joyrides will evolve into a 'sport' like skydiving (I'm a skydiver, btw) much beyond the first catastrophic failure and ensuing safety regulations (and added cost). In skydiving, generally considered 'high-risk', the accident rate is just 1 per 100,000 jumps. If we combine a much higher risk with a prohibitive price tag, the odds for success don't look that good.

Back in the 1930's a transatlantic airplane ticket cost, in today's money, some $100000. Only the rich could fly but then there was a underlying reason to get to a destination faster and within acceptable risks. Thus, come 2010 far more people use airplanes for travelling compared with those of us crazy enough to jump off an airplane just for the 'fun' of it.

Don't get me wrong ... I'd wholeheartly take the risks for a suborbital joyride, but let's not try to pass this off as an acceptable replacement for human spaceflight.

Folks:

From the VariViggen to VSS Enterprise (Spaceshiptwo) in less than forty years. From a plane built in a garage to a spacecraft. Way to go Burt Rutan.

Now there's a true aviation hero that I dare say is up there with the Wright brothers and Howard Hughs. He aircraft are innovative and his company has advanced it's technology base by continually moving onward and upward.

You don't need more proof that safe "commercial" spaceflight is possible. Spaceshiptwo is solidly based on decades of research. The test program that just started will be a incremental process much like Spaceshipone went through a few years ago. Also, the incremental abort capability of Spaceshiptwo (Through it's entire flight envelope) is a good lesson that others could learn from. Rutans aircraft have shown themselves to be pretty tough. During Spaceshipone's flight testing a rear landing strut collapsed during a hard landing. Spaceshipone skidded off the runway into the dessert scrub. The pilot was unharmed and Spaceshipone had about a foot of horizontal stabilizer ground off. It took a few weeks to repair and eventually flew to space and back three times. Amazing!

Also, if Burt Rutan can build a pressure vessel (with all those windows too) that can protect a person in shirt sleeves to the edge of space then I have no difficulty believing that Spacex or SNC (Dream Chaser) can build safe pressure vessels for their spacecraft.

tinker

Is this a replacement for human spaceflight? Of course not. But it is a step forward. The other day I went to Fry's electronics and saw that 2TByte disk drives cost $150. Amazing how technology advances. And space flight is technology. I think those who understand the engineering of space vehicles are impressed by what Scaled Composites, and other companies such as SpaceX, have done. I am. So, the envelope continues to expand. Also, these "desert rat" companies are showing what can be done. And it drives home the point that NASA isn't stepping up to the plate with anything near NASA's full potential.

Maybe there will come a time when business people and the very well off will be riding rockets to cross the Pacific and the Atlantic. That would be cool.

It may not be HSF but Eve has an orbital capacity of sorts: "Launcher One"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jonathanamos/2009/11/launcherone-virgins-galactics.shtml

funding news:
http://www.hobbyspace.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=14239
FWIIW