Page 31 - Rocket Engine News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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. that's when the spaceship will release and the rocket engine will ignite, shooting these soon-to-be astronauts into the edge of space where they will experience a few ...

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 earth's atmosphere. if you're a test pilot, this is a fun spaceship to fly because you're 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 was actually a co-pilot's error that led to his death, a terrible tragedy that the virgin galactic...

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 customers up on these suborbital space flights. if that's not enough, in just a few days, nine days,...

How they've 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. it's controlled by pilots who are responsible for igniting the rocket engine and turning it off. the test pilots love it because they're actually flying it. it's fun to fly. >> kristin, i'm going to interrupt you. sir richard branson stepping up to the podium, taking a seat for the start of this press conference. let's listen in. >> richard, we'll let you guys take it. >> thanks, michael, th...

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 you're watching around the world, trust me, you'll see it in a moment. rachel is a few seconds ahead of the stream you're seeing on your television. rachel is telling us on the ground she knows that unity 22 has successfully fired its rocket. rachel, what's next? >> reporter: brian, i apologize for that delay, but we are 45 seconds into this burn. this ro...