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Virgin's Branson presents new space ship
British tycoon Richard Branson unveiled Wednesday his newest spaceship and said that test flights for the vessel would begin this year.Branson, who has ambitious plans to begin carrying tourists on short flights into space by 2010, revealed models and photographs of the newest version of SpaceShipTwo and also the twin-fuselage WhiteKnightTwo which will ferry SpaceShipTwo into the atmosphere for a midair launch. Construction of the two should be completed by this year. ... The two vessels are being built by Scaled Composites, an aircraft builder in Mojave, California, with plans to provide paying customers flights into suborbital space some 110 kilometers (70 miles) above the earth. Branson said more than 200 passengers have confirmed their plans for the flight, which will cost 200,000 dollars each, and that some 85,000 have expressed interest. With its numerous round windows providing views on all sides, SpaceShipTwo will carry two crew and six passengers, who will experience five minutes of zero gravity once in space. The first flight is expected in 2009. A name seems to be missing from the marquee, blotted out by the magnificence that is Richard Branson. Posted by: ed 2008-01-24 |
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