test flight

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NASA Puts New Moon Rocket on Launch Pad

Lunar test flight is scheduled for Aug. 29

(Newser) - NASA's new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its debut flight in less than two weeks. The 322-foot rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when NASA sent astronauts...

Blastoff Nears for Boeing's Starliner Crew Capsule

Next time, astronauts could be on board

(Newser) - Boeing's shiny new Starliner crew capsule is scheduled to make its debut Friday with a launch to the International Space Station, the company's last hurdle before flying astronauts for NASA next year. Testing the cosmic waters will be Rosie the mannequin, in Boeing's custom blue spacesuit and...

Boeing Pilots Put a 787 in the Sky, the Hard Way

They trace its silhouette over 22 states

(Newser) - It might have seemed like an erratic flight plan, but the end result showed that the Boeing pilots had a method to their madness. In a test flight of a 787-8, they traced the silhouette of the plane itself into the sky over 22 states, per a company statement . The...

'Flying Bum' Crashes —Ever So Slowly

Airlander 10, world's longest aircraft, went down after tangle with telephone pole

(Newser) - The world's longest aircraft is likely going to have a similarly lengthy repair bill after a bit of a bumpy landing on Wednesday during its second test flight in the UK, the BBC reports. The $33.1 million, 302-foot-long Airlander 10—officially named the Martha Gywn, but called "...

Virgin Galactic Gets Another Step Closer to Space Tourism

SpaceShipTwo makes first rocket-powered test flight

(Newser) - We're one step closer to space tourism, as Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo made history today: The private spaceship, designed for future commercial flights, successfully completed its first rocket-powered test flight, Space.com reports. The WhiteKnightTwo mothership carried the spaceship into the air, released it at 46,000 feet, and...

5-Minute Hypersonic Flight Planned for Tomorrow

X-51A WaveRider will travel at Mach 6

(Newser) - Tomorrow, a hypersonic aircraft will zip above the Pacific Ocean at Mach 6 for 300 seconds—twice as long as any previous flight at that speed. Just how fast is Mach 6? A blazing 3,600mph—meaning it could get you from Los Angeles to New York in 46 minutes,...

Virgin Spaceship Veers Out of Control

Test flight turns dramatic for SpaceShipTwo as Spaceport opens

(Newser) - SpaceShipTwo's most recent test flight turned into a more extensive test than the private spacecraft's makers had bargained for. A malfunction sent the Virgin Galactic spacecraft briefly hurtling out of control—but then its three-person crew stabilized it for a safe landing, MSNBC reports. The glitch allowed Virgin...

Space Plane Takes First Test Flight

Mothership and spaceship flew for 3 hours in 'captive carry' test

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo took to the skies for the first time yesterday over the Mojave Desert, an important step toward passenger flights in space in 2011. “This is a momentous day,” says Burt Rutan, who built the craft and its mothership for Richard Branson’s company. The...

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