WhiteKnightTwo takes flight

Sep 2, 01:51 AM

“You’ve got to be a believer!” So billionare Delos D. Harriman declares as he wheels and deals his way to be the first space tycoon in Robert Heinlein’s 1940 sci-fi novel The Man Who Sold the Moon. In the Mojave desert this summer, maverick billionaire Richard Branson’s own path to first space tycoon is closer to taking off. His company, Virgin Galactic unveiled the new aircraft they’ll be using to carry their SpaceShipTwo to its high altitude launch height.

The WhiteKnightTwo has a twin fuselage design (it resembles a mutant hybrid of two planes conjoined at the wingtips) that looks daring and futuristic, but is actually based on a tried-and-true aerodynamics.

But it’s not all just good looks. The WhiteKnightTwo is made from cutting-space aerospace material. The entire body is made mostly of lightweight composite material. The 43 metre long wingspan is made from a single piece of the same stuff. This is all very fancy and unique but what it means is the WhiteKnightTwo can fly higher than most commercial aircraft, reaching an altitude of 15,000 meters. From there, the SpaceShipTwo will fire its rockets, carrying the lucky few space explorers to a final height of over 104 kilometers.

WhiteKnightTwo’s designer, American aerospace designer Burt Rutan has a long history of daring aircraft design. No surprises it’s also competing to win a contract with the U.S. Air Forces to construct a ‘Hunter-Killer’ unmanned combat aircraft.

Flights will be leaving from the still-under-constrction New Mexico spaceport in late 2009 for $200,000 standard Earth dollars (USD).

posted by: Michael Lehan

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