Page 16 - Rocket Engine News Today

Happen? what are we going to see? >> reporter: well, fareed, we just had a really exciting moment happen just a few short moments ago. we saw richard branson and his specialists come out of the hangar, get in their vehicles and head out to the runway where vss unity, their spaceship, their mother eve are parked and ready to take off in about 30 minutes. this lift-off, the mother ship eve will take vss unity to about 40,000 feet. thats when the spaceship will release and the rocket engine will ig...

The pilots are still responsible for firing the rocket engine, for turning it off, and for deploying that feathering system that allows the spaceship to re-enter the earths atmosphere. if youre a test pilot, this is a fun spaceship to fly because youre in control of it, which is why so many nasa space astronauts love fly the space shuttle. the down side is it can be a little more dangerous like we saw with the two shuttle accidents and we saw inner accident in 2014 with virgin galactic when it w...

Edge of space. and the way it works, spaceship 2 took off attached to a mother ship called eve at the right altitude. it detached. the pilots fired the rocket engine. it flew nearly vertical up to the edge of space. the astronauts got a few minutes of weightlessness before the plane glided back down, landing back on the same runway it took off from at space port america. so now the idea is, after two more test flights, virgin galactic will finally begin making good on its promise to send paying ...

How theyve all gotten here? >> reporter: absolutely. what we saw today was a supersonic space plane, very similar to the space shuttle in the sense that it has wings and it is not automated. it is analog. its controlled by pilots who are responsible for igniting the rocket engine and turning it off. the test pilots love it because theyre actually flying it. its fun to fly. >> kristin, im going to interrupt you. sir richard branson stepping up to the podium, taking a seat for the start of this pr...

The rocket engine has ignited. this is the moment that branson and his team have been waiting for. brian, i have to pause. i have to take this in. this is really an incredible moment here. this is what branson and his team -- >> viewers, what youre watching around the world, trust me, youll see it in a moment. rachel is a few seconds ahead of the stream youre seeing on your television. rachel is telling us on the ground she knows that unity 22 has successfully fired its rocket. rachel, whats nex...

Dl dream of reaching space. and richard branson becoming the first of the billionaire space barons as he approaches space. you must wonder what hes feeling as he approaches those few moments of weightlessness. >> more than 2,000 miles per hour. put that into perspective for us. >> reporter: the amount of g-forces they must feel. you saw that moment of freefall and the second that rocket engine ignites. those rocket engines are pushed back, and they are literally pressed down with all of those g-...

K colglazier came outside to tell everyone this historic space flight is soon to take off in 10 or 15 minutes. theyre set to start their livestream of the event. of course there is an event of the event in typical branson style. there will also be a musical performance. certainly, i have to tell you the energy surrounding me, it just went up about seven notches, everybody knowing this space flight is about to take off. i want to remind the viewers what theyre going to see in a couple minutes. vs...

Flight? >> well, you would expect that there might be some tweaking. theyll, of course, go over the ship very carefully, make sure it looks structurally sound and do other kinds of inspections, and theyll have to reload the rocket engine, of course, before the next flight. but it certainly looked like a textbook flight without any significant problems that came up at all. >> all right, this is what they said about this flight. >> everything looked perfect in real time. we have looked at the data...

Away at the same time that space ship 2 ignites its rockets. the rocket engine is a hybrid engine. its burning a oxidizer down the center, down the center of a solid fuel, rubber. and it is a rough ride. that engine is nice, smooth rocket engine like leland experienced on the solid rocket boosters. its going to be a rough ride. its loud. its got a lot of vibration and its going to be firing for a couple minutes. at the same time that the pilots are pointing the nose of space ship 2 literally str...

Flight, it certainly looks flawless, but we now know we have the official confirmation from the virgin galactic team that it was indeed a textbook test flight. this space plane, spaceship 2, it returned in pristine condition, no issues whatsoever after taking off from space port america in truth or consequences new mexico, a little over two hours ago and took off from the runway behind me, attached to the belly of the mother ship, eve. once it got to the proper altitude, it dropped. the astronau...