Early this morning, at California's Mojave Air and Space Port, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo "Enterprise" completed its second rocket-powered test flight, achieving its fastest hypersonic speed, a record altitude and fully flexing its unique feathering re-entry design.
During the 90-minute flight and landing maneuver, the WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane lifted SS2 to an altitude of 46,000 feet (14,000 m). Upon release, the two pilots on board SS2 rode a 20-second fiery burn as SS2 ascended to 69,000 feet (21,000 m), reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.4.
Congratulations to Richard Branson and the Virgin Galactic Team on a successful test flight!
Video credit: Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic aims to start taking passengers to the edge of space in 2014. The company has sold tickets for these space tourist flights for years. Many of the ticket holders are celebrities who made national and international news for buying tickets that cost $200,000. But not all ticket holders are celebrities. Some just want to go to space. One of them is Sonja Rohde, who aims to become the first German woman in space. She is from Hagen / Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Photo credit: Sonja Rohde
For my German-speaking readers, you can also read about Sonja Rohde as part of my interview with a German newspaper in 2011. Scroll down to the first newspaper page, middle column, lower half.
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