Rob Coppinger reports that the first test flight of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier ship may be slipped until closer to the end of the year.
“There have been various taxi trials outside the hangar already, but undertaken at night. The first flight trials will take place when we are ready and will definitely be this year and possibly within the next few weeks,” Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn told Coppinger.
Meanwhile, Bill Deaver has taken a spin into space aboard SpaceShipTwo - a good eighteen before any paying passengers will. Sort of.
“I flew to space from Mojave last Thursday. It was my second time sitting in the pilot’s seat of a Scaled Composites spaceship and aiming it at the stars.
“The first time was back in 2003 in a realistic simulator built by Peter Siebold and crew for SpaceShipOne and White Knight. Like the first time, it was an exciting and realistic experience. But it was nothing compared to my ride last week in the simulator Siebold and Terry Agold have created for SpaceShipTwo!”
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