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Virgin Galactic spacecraft performs the first powered flight since fatal 2014 crash
Richard Branson's fledgling space tourism company Virgin Galactic performed a powered flight of its spacecraft today, the first since a fatal crash in 2014.
Virgin's spacecraft is unlike others because it is launched mid-flight by a larger plane called White Knight Two. This particular version of the spacecraft, dubbed SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, has performed seven glide tests since it was built in 2016. Like those previous tests, it was carried high above the Mojave Desert by White Knight Two and released at 46,000 feet. But today, pilots Mark Stucky and Dave Mackay fired Unity's engine and continued skyward.
The spaceplane's engine burned for 30 seconds, pushing the Unity supersonic to Mach 1.87 before the engines cut off. It coasted to 84,000 feet before gliding down again for a safe landing at the company's spaceport back in Mojave. White Knight Two safely touched down roughly 30 minutes later.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 06 2018, @11:47PM (1 child)
Note that this is a mistake. If the railgun is built on the equator as OP suggested then the initial velocity is not zero -- it is about 465m/s at sea level (perhaps more if you can build at a higher altitude).
The railgun will still be huge. It probably doesn't make any sense to go straight to 7km/s with one. But a launch system like this requires no fuel on the vehicle itself -- this is a big win even if the railgun only accelerates the rocket by a small amount -- assuming you can actually build it and have it work reliably.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 07 2018, @12:59PM
Really? You're going to hit the starting end of the railgun already travelling at 465 m/s? I'd watch that on youtube.
Or, here's a thought, maybe the acceleration, velocity, and distance figures are relative to the planet you and the railgun are standing on when you start.