Video: Virgin Galactic, Plus Special Guest, Dedicates Spaceport America and its Two-Mile Runway

First!

First!

First!

No, Nolan, you're certainly not the "first" nor the last idiot to post "first" somewhere in a comment section. You're working your way up to first place of the idiot category though. It's nice that you typed your banal comment 3 times over an eight minute period of time as well...

'Scuse me, but: "...SpaceShipTwo, the jet-powered space plane..." is a rocket-powered craft, no?

Nice.

Is the middle plane suppose to detach from the other two?
If it is, why didnt they detach the middile plane and send it to the outer sphere of the earth? Could it be they are afraid of errors in the spaceship?

This whole project is one disappointing failure.

I don't know how much he has spent on building this monstrosity, but it isn't what he promised and I have a feeling that some of those 380 people will want their deposits back.

SpaceX will end up with a drastically wider profit margin than Virgin's little toy. And I really love that Boeing can't do anything about it either. I know that they would love to have their hands on that company so they can boost their eventual government contract with cost overruns.

I think if Virgin can modify their design to air-launch small payloads into orbit, they could do reasonably well in the satellite market. Their big problem right now is that they can only get to sub-orbital altitudes and speeds. Sub-orbit is fine for giving tourists a thrill, but no one wants satellites that fall back to earth after a few minutes!

Not to be negative ... Just being honest, here ...

I am cringing at the thought of how the first major accident (with loss of life) will affect this budding industry and it's investors.

When we lost our first shuttle crew, it was YEARS before the dust settled (all investigations and fixes complete) and the SSTS was able to resume flights.

Major television networks often keep files on major celebs and even write "air-copy" obituaries and eulogies, in advance of a famous person's death, because death is inevitable and they want to be ready for this eventuality.

Let's pretend like it has already happenned (a tragic civilian space mishap) and attempt to work thru this looming scenario, in advance.

I would like to see the insurance waiver (indemnification clauses) for passenger contracts !

= Hmmmm =

Not to be negative ... Just being honest, here ...

I am cringing at the thought of how the first major accident (with loss of life) will affect this budding industry and it's investors.

When we lost our first shuttle crew, it was YEARS before the dust settled (all investigations and fixes complete) and the SSTS was able to resume flights.

Major television networks often keep files on major celebs and even write "air-copy" obituaries and eulogies, in advance of a famous person's death, because death is inevitable and they want to be ready for this eventuality.

Let's pretend like it has already happenned (a tragic civilian space mishap) and attempt to work thru this looming scenario, in advance.

I would like to see the insurance waiver (indemnification clauses) for passenger contracts !

= Hmmmm =

Hey !!
This MULTIPLE POST THING is a system glitch ! NOT my fault!

The system is (ATM) hanging up on submissions ... I openned a second browser session to type this, becuae the original session "got hung" after three tries.

Yet, I can now see those multiple submissions have (indeed) been posted, even as my (3rd) original session posting attempt is STILL hung! ... I just closed that session, but it was likely way too late to avoid a third, published iteration. Don't blame the readers for this !!

I have seen this on several threads, in recent days.

The workaround is to "post once" ... LET it hang ... open a new browser session and verify your first post was actually registered ... then, kill the original session and continue with the new session.

= S O R R Y ! =

@buzzlightyear - and then when you add in the fact that the people on that plane are super wealthy, that's going to even add more drama to the situation. Imagine if the CEO of a major corporation died. Imagine if 3 or 4 CEOs of major corps go, wonder what that would do to the stock market the next day.

Interesting point.

everyone here is blasting virgin galactic. you guys are real cool.

yes its 200,000. so? give it 10-20yrs and it'll be cheap.

they sank a lotta money into it. so? how much did your FIRST EVER space tourism company cost? oh right, youre too busy hating other people.

its dangerous. actually its minimally so. the very shape and folded wing of the space craft in itself is redundancy which will not allow serious problems in exit/entry. upkeep is the only issue.

i suggest a little reading on the ideas and designs and business plans of virgin galactic before spouting off about something of which you know little.

haters like you guys will keep us on earth in the dark ages.

@ unstop ...

I hope you don't mean ME ("hater") !! I was just honestly musing about a fatal mishap, whether Virgin, or whomever ... If it can happen to NASA twice, just with the SSTS program, once with Apollo, and almost again with Apollo 13 ... well, it seems statistically inevitable that there "should" be at least one fatal mishap in the early stages of commercialization ... at least one.

My question, in light of the impact such accidents had upon SSTS scheduling and costs ... "WHEN this/these crash(es) happen(s), then how big of a setback will that cause ?".

I was also intimating that "we" should expect this likelyhood and "work through it", technically, legally, etc., in order that we might be somehow "innoculated" and prepared, with contingency plans and procedures ... even news spin, from Virgin's perspective (or Space-X, etc.).

If the Hindenberg (Zeppelin) had never gone down in flames, the history & future of LTA aviation would have been DRASTICALLY different. Media and mass psychology played no small parts in this trauma-drama.

= shrug =