Virgin Galactic to unveil new spaceship

Private space tourism company Virgin Galactic on Friday, February 19 unveiled the new version of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, dubbed the VSS Unity, the Verge reports.

Prof Hawking, who suffers from the degenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), confirmed that he is still hoping to take a trip into space on a Virgin Galactic rocket.

Sir Richard Branson revealed the space ship during a spectacular show in the Mojave Air & Space Port, north of Los Angeles.

“We’re very much looking forward to starting the test program and getting back on track”, Branson said in a preview video. Isn’t she quite handsome? An unsuccessful flight test of SpaceShipOne in 2014 resulted in the death of co-pilot Michael Alsbury, age 39.

The pilot was injured but successfully deployed his parachute, while the co-pilot was killed. The first SpaceShipTwo broke apart on October 31, 2014 in which wreckage fell to the Mojave Desert floor.

Virgin Galactic’s budding commercial spaceline fleet now consists of the spaceship VSS Unity and two dedicated carrier aircraft-the WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve for human spaceflight and the 747-400 Cosmic Girl for the LauncherOne small satellite launch service. Investigators were not able to determine why Alsbury had moved the lever to unlock the feathers when he did. Unity, however, will pull double duty: It will finish out flight testing and then become the world’s first commercial space shuttle, its creators hope. It will go through a testing period.

The first step, Engadget explained, will be to conduct full-vehicle electrical tests and to check all of its moving parts.

The Spaceship Company President Doug Shane said: “Building a talented team for our assembly facility in Mojave is perhaps what I take the most pride in”.

“We’ll check it on the ground, out on the ramp”.

In a recorded speech, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking named the new vehicle Virgin Spaceship (VSS) Unity and said, “I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship”.

The new craft may one day carry six passengers on three-hour suborbital flights, offering them the possibility of momentary weightlessness and unparalleled views of Earth.

But we have partnered with Virgin Galactic for many more reasons than simply providing and promoting a fantastic range of SUVs. “The knowledge that we must repay their support by making space travel affordable and safe is humbling, but it also inspires us on a daily basis”. Virgin Galactic said in a statement about the rollout.

Currently, Virgin Galactic is not the only company trying to launch humans to edge of the space.

“And thanks to one message in particular I knew without a doubt who I was going to ask to name her. That message came from the great man who never ceases to amaze and inspire us all”, said Branson. “We seem to be able to cooperate between nations in space in a way we can only envy on Earth”.

Check out the highlights from the event below, including a moment when Branson’s granddaughter christens the spacecraft with a bottle of baby’s milk.