Astronomy:VMS Eve
| VMS Eve | |
|---|---|
| |
| VMS Eve's maiden flight | |
| Role | Spaceship carrier / launcher |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Designer | Robert Morgan, James Tighe[1][2] |
| First flight | 21 December 2008 |
| Primary user | Virgin Galactic |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | White Knight One |
| Type | WhiteKnightTwo |
| Construction number | 001 |
| Registration | N348MS |
VMS Eve (Tail number: N348MS[3]) is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips.
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VMS Eve was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. The "VMS" prefix stands for "Virgin MotherShip".[4]
Public launch
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The aircraft was named after Evette Branson, the mother of Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The jet plane has nose art of a blonde woman holding a banner with the Virgin Galactic logo.[5] The image is based on how Evette Branson looked when she was younger and is called Galactic Girl.[6] The aircraft was officially launched on July 28, 2008, in Mojave, California , the United States , at the Mojave Spaceport, home of Scaled Composites. On December 12, 2008, the aircraft performed first taxi tests,[7] and a week later the maiden flight.[8] Eve is being used in the Virgin Galactic testflight program, preceding entry into commercial usage.[9]
Burt Rutan has dismissed fears that pressurization cycles might induce fatigue failure in the composite structure.[10] Richard Branson has also announced that it will be highly fuel efficient.[11]
Flight test program
The initial flight occurred on 21 December 2008, after an initial low speed taxi test was carried out at Mojave[12] followed by a high speed taxi on 16 December.[13] By September 2009 the flight envelope was extended to 50000 feet.[14] (As of September 2014) the total flight time for WhiteKnightTwo is 333.96 hours.
References
- Citations
- ↑ Morgan, Robert & James Tighe, "U.S. Design Patent 612,719 for the ornamental design for an aircraft", US patent D612791, issued 2010-03-30
- ↑ "WK2 Rollout Audio Clips (parts 4 & 6)". Movaje Skies. 2008-07-30. http://mojaveskies.blogspot.com/2008/07/wk2-rollout-audio-clips.html.
- ↑ "FAA N Number Registration for "Eve"". http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=348MS.
- ↑ CNet News, Virgin Galactic's faces of Eve, July 28, 2008 1:08 PM PDT, Candace Lombardi
- ↑ Sher, Lauren (July 28, 2008). "Virgin Galactic Announces New Space Aircraft". http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=5467790&page=1.
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, Branson reveals mother ship, July 29, 2008
- ↑ AVweb, WhiteKnight2 Completes Taxi Test, December 16, 2008
- ↑ The Space Fellowship, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Mothership Makes Maiden Flight, December 21, 2008
- ↑ The Register, Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership, Tuesday 29th July 2008 10:32 UTC, Scott Snowden
- ↑ Rob Coppinger (29 July 2008)"Rutan: Fatigue 'is not an issue' for WhiteKnightTwo", Flightglobal
- ↑ National Geographic, Virgin Galactic Unveils WhiteKnightTwo Space Plane, July 28, 2008, Ker Than
- ↑ Coppinger, Rob (13 Dec 2008). "World Exclusive Video: SpaceShipTwo mothership runway trial". London. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/12/13/320125/world-exclusive-video-spaceshiptwo-mothership-runway.html. "Source: Flight International"
- ↑ Coppinger, Rob (17 Dec 2008). "Exclusive Video: WhiteKnightTwo makes high speed taxi, deploys spoilers". London. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/12/17/320251/exclusive-video-whiteknighttwo-makes-high-speed-taxi-deploys.html. "Source: Flight International"
- ↑ Coppinger, Rob (30 April 2009), Scaled plans 50,000ft WhiteKnight Two flight by September, London, http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/04/30/325832/scaled-plans-50000ft-whiteknight-two-flight-by-september.html, "Source: Flight International"
- Bibliography
- BBC News, Branson unveils space tourism jet, 20:42 UTC, Monday, 28 July 2008 UK
- Los Angeles Times, Richard Branson unveils his space plane, July 29, 2008, Peter Pae
- Wired, Virgin Galactic Unveils White Knight Two Launch Vehicle, 07.29.08,Dave Bullock
- New York Times, New Steps in Private Space Travel, July 29, 2008, John Schwartz
- Reuters, Branson unveils plane to launch spaceship, Mon Jul 28, 2008 Fred Prouser
- Associated Press, Alicia Chang (July 25, 2008). "New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft"]. Associated Press. https://kval.com/news/local/new-space-race-heats-up-with-unveiling-of-aircraft-11-19-2015-091106971.
- Scientific American, Forget the Dark Knight--the White Knight Two mothership has arrived, Jul 28, 2008 Adam Hadhazy
- New Scientist, Virgin Galactic rolls out SpaceShipTwo's 'mothership', 28 July 2008, Rachel Courtland
- Telegraph, Sir Richard Branson unveils Virgin's spaceship, 29 Jul 2008, James Quinn
External links
- Virgin Galactic - news
- Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mothership Eve - Jul 28, 2008 Press Release
- Scaled Composites, WHITEKNIGHTTWO FLIGHT TEST SUMMARIES
See also
- Blue Origin LPV Jacklyn, Blue Origin vehicle named after the founder's mother
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