Photo courtesy of Raytheon - Facebook.com
Photo of the Day... On display at the Farnborough International Airshow in England this week is a full-scale replica of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2) vehicle. In terms of the actual spacecraft, SS2 is still undergoing flight tests above the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. Test firing of the engine that will take SS2 into space, RocketMotorTwo (RM2) has also been taking place for the last month or so. However, the results of RM2's hot-fires have led to modifications on SS2 itself. Because the engine and the propulsion system in general have become heavier than expected since the flight tests begun, SS2's landing gear and brake system needed to be upgraded because of the increased weight caused by RM2. On the plus side though, the Federal Aviation Administration granted an experimental launch permit to Virgin Galactic last May...thus allowing the company to conduct flight tests of SS2 and its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), at a more rapid rate.
Scaled Composites, which built SS2 and WK2, is on track to begin powered flights of SS2 beyond Earth's atmosphere by the end of this year.
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