Page 7 - Flight Opportunities Program News Today

NASA high-altitude balloon experiment launches in Madras, ends near Prineville (Update: Adding video, comments from Near Space Corp. president) Goal is to eventually be able to drop items from the International Space Station safely to Earth MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- In the early hours of Thursday morning, a NASA partners critical space experiment was underway in Central Oregon. A stratospheric scientific balloon successfully launched from the Madras Airport around 6 a.m. The high-altitude balloon ...

High-altitude balloon in NASA test soars aloft from Madras Airport Projects goal is to safely drop items from space back to Earth MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A large high-altitude balloon soared aloft from the Madras Airport early Thursday morning, ascending more than 22 miles to test for NASA a new way of returning items to Earth, without rockets. The balloon, which launched around 6 a.m., is part of an experiment to test the accuracy of landing items dropped from the International Space Station sa...

Virgin Galactic aborts its first crewed flight  Dec 12, 2020, 08:38 PM facebook Quinn Tucker for Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic on Saturday appeared to abort a manned flight of a rocket-powered spaceship from a New Mexico spaceport.  "Take off! VMS Eve and SpaceShipTwo Unity have taken to the skies above Spaceport America, New Mexico," the company said on Twitter at about 8.30 local time. The company posted updates, saying it was about to launch, but then abruptl...

The Zia Sun Symbol can be seen on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity. (Quinn Tucker/Virgin Galactic) The window opened Friday for Virgin Galactic’s first rocket-powered test flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico as the company prepares for commercial flights next year, but the exact timing of the launch will depend on the weather. Virgin Galactic posted on social media that the flight crew is ready but does not plan to fly before Saturday. “We have range clearance through...

UCF science getting more time in zero-G with Virgin Galactic --and soon Virgin Orbit Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo set for liftoff this weekend Updated:  Tags:  Virgin Galactics mothership plane and SpaceShipTwo in the hangar in New Mexico. (Image: Virgin Galactic) (WKMG 2020) ORLANDO, Fla. – The avenues to send science into a space-like environment is increasing as the number of small launch companies continue to grow. This weekend the University of Central Florida will have a payload flyi...

Credit: Virgin Galactic The first Scot in space is to make history for a second time by taking control of a "milestone" rocket launch in New Mexico this afternoon. Dave Mackay, from the Scottish Highlands, is one of two pilots on board Virgin Galactics VSS Unity, which is due to take off at 8am MT - around 3pm GMT. Sir Richard Bransons company is expected to begin space tourism flights in 2021, with Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio among the first 600 paying customers who have signed u...

VSS Unity aborts after engine start, safely lands with crew back at Spaceport America December 12, 2020 Virgin Galactic was to perform their first human spaceflight of their VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo vehicle from Spaceport America, just south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, today. The spaceship and crew took off at 10:24 EST (15:24 UTC) firmly attached to their WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft from the runway at Spaceport America. The combined aircraft climbed to altitude before Unity was rel...

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is poised to launch the SpaceShipTwo as early as Saturday on a milestone powered flight test following a month-long delay due to COVID-19 restrictions in New Mexico. The company hopes to send a pair of astronauts, CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, aboard the VSS Unity on a suborbital trip, marking the spaceplane’s third crewed test mission. What’s more, this launch will be the first time that a crewed spaceflight has taken off from New Mexico soil — making it o...

The window opened Friday for Virgin Galactic’s first rocket-powered test flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico as the c...