Virgin Galactic to use 747 for LauncherOne
The competition heats up? Virgin Galactic has purchased a 747 from Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines to use as the launch vehicle for its LauncherOne rocket.
They say that WhiteKnightOne will still be used for suborbital flights, but that they need the 747 for the orbital missions of LauncherOne. They also say that test flights will begin in 2017. We shall see.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The competition heats up? Virgin Galactic has purchased a 747 from Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines to use as the launch vehicle for its LauncherOne rocket.
They say that WhiteKnightOne will still be used for suborbital flights, but that they need the 747 for the orbital missions of LauncherOne. They also say that test flights will begin in 2017. We shall see.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I always wondered why Branson was wasting resources “reinventing the wheel” when proven heavy lift airframes like the 747 or the DC-10 could be modified to carry just about anything.
Didn’t I mention or suggest this about a year ago?
Now all he needs to do is modify it a bit and he can carry and launch his shuttle from the top like they did testing the NASA Space shuttles way back in the 1970’s.
If the front swung open like the larger cargo carriers do he could carry extra launcher one rockets or even the crane needed to lift the shuttle up to the top of the carrier/launch/ferry plane.
Then he could fly the whole circus all over the world.
pzatchok – I believe you did suggest this. Perhaps Mr. Branson reads this blog.
Personally, I would have suggested a DC-10 for the extra ground clearance. The belly could be modified to carry the vehicle the way the X-1 was carried under a B-29. The current configuration allows the vehicle to be attached to the WhiteKnight without a crane, and air dropped before powered flight. I don’t see any easy way to reconfigure for a piggy-back launch that wouldn’t eventually end in disaster. But then again, I’m not a billionaire with money to burn…