As the era of clean, safe, and affordable
access to
space dawns, the pioneers at Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites have again
chosen EAA AirVenture Oshkosh as the stage for unveiling their innovations.
After successfully completing its initial flight test program, space launch
vehicle Virgin Mothership (VMS) Eve will make its world public debut on July 27
at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009.
The space launch vehicle
will arrive as part of the opening-day air show. AirVenture attendees will have
opportunities for up-close viewing of the vehicle on the ground each day until
its departure flight as part of the Saturday, Aug. 1 air show. Event organizers
and Virgin Galactic officials are hopeful to arrange additional showcase
flights during the week.
"This will be a
major highlight of our event. Since the appearance of the X-Prize-winning
WhiteKnight and SpaceShipOne at AirVenture four years ago, our members have
eagerly awaited the next advancements from the Virgin Galactic and Scaled
Composites innovators," said EAA president and AirVenture chairman Tom
Poberezny.
"Burt Rutan, the
chief designer of Virgin Galactic's launch vehicle and spacecraft, truly
embodies the EAA spirit. His accomplishments show how far our passion for
building and flying aircraft can go. Over the decades, this EAA member has
created some of the world's most inventive designs, including the vehicles that
will take private-citizen astronauts into space. We're all eager to welcome
Burt and his team back to Oshkosh,"
Poberezny said.
"Likewise, the EAA
community is eager to applaud Virgin Galactic for employing corporate muscle
and mettle to bring ambitious dreams within reach," he added.
Will Whitehorn, President
of Virgin Galactic commented: "Our new launch vehicle, VMS Eve, is both
visually remarkable and represents ground-breaking aerospace technology. It has
a unique heavy lift, high altitude capability and an open architecture driven
design that provides for maximum versatility in the weight, mass, and volume of
its payload potential. VMS Eve is capable of lifting SpaceShipTwo, an unmanned
satellite launch or space science vehicle and also being capable of use as an
astronaut training vehicle. Its carbon composite construction also gives
unprecedented fuel efficiency and the strength to perform high g maneuvers and
parabolic flight," he said.
"Together with
Scaled Composites, we are delighted to be showcasing this incredible vehicle
and demonstrating its capabilities in public for the very first time. It is
particularly appropriate that we are doing this at the 2009 AirVenture event in
conjunction with the EAA, which has done so much over the years to support and
promote aerospace innovation," Whitehorn added.
According to Whitehorn,
Virgin Galactic plans to conduct test flights of VMS Eve carrying SpaceShipTwo
during the second half of 2009.
Dwarfing its namesake
predecessor, WhiteKnightTwo is the world's largest all carbon composite flying
vehicle. The 140-foot wingspan is the longest single carbon composite aviation
component ever manufactured.
The launch vehicle's
mission will include ferrying SpaceShipTwo and thousands of private astronauts,
science packages, and payload on the first stage of the Virgin Galactic
sub-orbital space experience.
Editor's Note: CR4
would like to thank Ron Darner for
sharing this story. A longtime CR4er, Ron is also the newsletter editor for
Chapter 320 (Watertown,
Wisconsin) of the Experimental
Aircraft Organization (EAA). If you'd like to subscribe to Ron's newsletter, click here to send him a private message on CR4.
| 
