Virgin Galactic

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NTSB Eyes Pilot Error in Spaceship Crash

System to slow descent was deployed too early

(Newser) - In its first investigation of a manned space launch , the National Transportation Safety Board says pilot error may have caused the deadly crash of SpaceShipTwo on Friday. The agency's acting chairman told reporters last night that a lever on the doomed spacecraft was moved to the unlock position sooner...

Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Was Testing New Fuel

NTSB begins investigation as Richard Branson arrives in Mojave

(Newser) - The National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in trying to figure out what doomed Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo yesterday , and the Los Angeles Times notes that it's a milestone of sorts in the new world of commercial space travel. This marks the first time the NTSB has...

Space Tourism Ship Crashes in Test Flight; 1 Pilot Dead

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo goes down

(Newser) - A spacecraft intended to carry tourists into space someday crashed this afternoon in California's Mojave desert, with one pilot dead and another injured, reports AP . "Our first concern is the status of the pilots," says a Virgin Galactic statement following the loss of its SpaceShipTwo craft. NBC...

Winklevoss Twins Going to Space, Via Bitcoins

They use their go-to currency to book on Virgin Galactic

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic has signed up two more high-profile passengers to space: the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame. In a blog post , Tyler wrote that he and Cameron had paid for their tickets using their favorite currency—bitcoins.
  • Tyler's take: "It is in this vein that Cameron and
...

Lady Gaga&#39;s Going to Space
 Lady Gaga's 
 Going to Space 
dept. of inevitability

Lady Gaga's Going to Space

Just another artist returning to her roots

(Newser) - Well, we all knew this was going to happen someday: Lady Gaga is going to space with Virgin Galactic, a source tells Us . She'll reportedly be the first musician to sing there, in early 2015. "She has to do a month of vocal training because of the atmosphere,...

Justin Bieber Is Going to Space
 Justin Bieber Is Going to Space 

Justin Bieber Is Going to Space

Sadly, he is not staying there

(Newser) - Justin Bieber and manager Scooter Braun are going to space as part of Virgin Galactic's space tourism program, Sir Richard Branson has announced. Tragically, Branson did not indicate that Bieber would be left in space once he arrived. Bieber will join such other celebrity "astronauts" as Ashton Kutcher...

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...

Ashton Kutcher Buys Ticket to Space
 Ashton Kutcher 
 Buys Ticket 
 to Space 
in case you missed it

Ashton Kutcher Buys Ticket to Space

He's Virgin Galactic's 500th customer, and yes, they have to bring him back

(Newser) - Ashton Kutcher has become the latest celebrity to shell out $200,000 for a ticket off the planet. The actor has been confirmed as the 500th customer to buy a ticket to space on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, MSNBC reports. Other customers reportedly include Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, Brad Pitt,...

Space Tourism Blasts Off
 Space Tourism Blasts Off
Here Comes 2012

Space Tourism Blasts Off

Virgin Galactic to start the business up in earnest

(Newser) - The year is still nascent, but 2012 may go down in history as the year space tourism finally took flight. This year Virgin Galactic will finally begin launching its much-ballyhooed jaunts into space, the New York Times reports, opening up the heavens to the non-billionaire set. Granted, you’ll still...

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...

NASA-Backed 'Space Taxi' to Fly Next Year

Dream Chaser's first test flight scheduled for summer 2012

(Newser) - With the space shuttles retired, NASA currently has to rely on the Russians to ferry astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. But it hopes to be able to hail a taxi soon. Dream Chaser, one of four "space taxis" being developed by private industry with...

First 'Spaceport' Coming to New Mexico

But project is late and getting expensive

(Newser) - Now that the shuttle's blasted off for the last time, attention is turning to the private space industry, and NPR has found an interesting piece of that puzzle: America’s first spaceport. The structure, under construction in a New Mexico desert, aims to be something like an airport for...

Space Tourism May Warm Planet

Rockets send soot into stratosphere

(Newser) - Space tourism may sound, well, out-of-this-world, but there is a good chance it will pollute this world, possibly contributing to global warming. As firms like Boeing prepare to launch space tourism businesses , a new study warns that the soot emitted by commercial rockets may get stuck in the stratosphere, notes...

Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Makes First Solo Flight

Private spacecraft on course to take paying passengers to space

(Newser) - The world's first manned commercial spacecraft has reached a major milestone. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo was released from the mothership and completed its first solo glide flight over the Mojave Desert yesterday, Wired reports. The craft, which is undergoing rigorous testing ahead of plans to carry paying customers to space and...

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...

Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo
 Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo 

Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo

Billionaire unveils first tourist spacecraft

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic chief Richard Branson yesterday rolled out the vessel he hopes will soon take thousands of people into space. Some 300 clients who already paid a deposit on the entrepreneur's $200,000 space travel tickets were on hand as SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at a hangar in Mojave, Calif., CNN...

Branson's Aircraft: Beyond Space Tourism

Applications include satelites, drones and studying climate change

(Newser) - Though space tourism is an exciting feat in itself, it’s just the beginning of the possibilities for Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two, the Economist notes. The carbon-composite plane doubles as a spaceship’s first stage, and is capable of launching satellites, transporting replacement engines, and facilitating the study...

Branson Rolls Out Space Plane

Craft could make first commercial flight—at $200K per ticket—by decade's end

(Newser) - At a remote airfield in the Mojave Desert today, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson unveiled the flagship of his new venture, an aircraft that will carry the first passenger space rocket to its launch height of 48,000 feet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tickets are going for $200,000-plus,...

Space Tourism Gets New 2-Seater

Calif. company is second aiming to take passengers to new heights

(Newser) - California's XCor Aerospace is jumping aboard the space-tourism bandwagon with a new rocket plane, the Los Angeles Times reports. For $100,000, one passenger at a time will be able to ride the Lynx to 200,000 feet and feel about 90 seconds of weightlessness. With flight tests beginning in...

Euro Jet Aims to Fly at Mach 5
Euro Jet Aims to Fly at Mach 5

Euro Jet Aims to Fly at Mach 5

Day trips to Australia in Europe's future

(Newser) - A futuristic hypersonic passenger plane that could carry 300 passengers at five times the speed of sound—more than 3,000 mph—is already on the drawing board in Britain. The A2, whose design is funded by the European Space Agency, could be in the air in 25 years if...

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