Virgin begins galaxy quest
VIRGIN Galactic's fledgling space tourism rocket has flown over the California desert attached to the wing of its mothership.
• Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, attached to mothership WhiteKnightTwo, flies over California's Mojave Desert during yesterday's test flight. Picture: Getty
The captive-carry test marked the start of a test programme for SpaceShipTwo that will progress to free flights as a glider and then under rocket power, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic said.
Throughout the two-hour, 54-minute test, the spaceship remained slung beneath the middle of the wing of its unique twin-fuselage carrier aircraft, the WhiteKnightTwo.
The pair achieved an altitude of 45,000 feet before returning to the Mojave Air and Space Port, which is 70 miles north of Los Angeles.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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