Virgin Galactic's orbital plans

At least the engine lit off. I was afraid it had dropped like a bomb to the ocean. :(
 
I notice they use the word "terminated" and the rocket is one of a very few with an automatic flight termination system. Wonder if that triggered (correctly or not)?
 
TomS said:
I notice they use the word "terminated" and the rocket is one of a very few with an automatic flight termination system. Wonder if that triggered (correctly or not)?
Click to expand...

Arianespace has a similar terminate function built in on the Ariane rockets, in fact did the first ever Ariane 5 rocket not get "terminated" when it veered of course on it's first mission.
 
FighterJock said:
TomS said:
I notice they use the word "terminated" and the rocket is one of a very few with an automatic flight termination system. Wonder if that triggered (correctly or not)?
Click to expand...

Arianespace has a similar terminate function built in on the Ariane rockets, in fact did the first ever Ariane 5 rocket not get "terminated" when it veered of course on it's first mission.
Click to expand...

Ariane has a manual FTS that has to be fired by the Range Safety Officer. There is a small automated subset that fires if it senses the solid boosters separating at the wrong time. That's what triggered on the first flight, when the rocket went off course. It was already disintegrating when the FTS fired.

You can tell Ariane V doesn't have a fully automatic FTS because it didn't fire when the booster went a full 20 degrees off course and nearly overflew Kourou a couple of years ago.

So far, I think Falcon and Minotaur are the only successful launchers with a fully automatic FTS that will fire if the launcher flies out of parameter to a significant or dangerous degree.
 
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
TomS said:
I notice they use the word "terminated" and the rocket is one of a very few with an automatic flight termination system. Wonder if that triggered (correctly or not)?
Click to expand...

Arianespace has a similar terminate function built in on the Ariane rockets, in fact did the first ever Ariane 5 rocket not get "terminated" when it veered of course on it's first mission.
Click to expand...

Ariane has a manual FTS that has to be fired by the Range Safety Officer. There is a small automated subset that fires if it senses the solid boosters separating at the wrong time. That's what triggered on the first flight, when the rocket went off course. It was already disintegrating when the FTS fired.

You can tell Ariane V doesn't have a fully automatic FTS because it didn't fire when the booster went a full 20 degrees off course and nearly overflew Kourou a couple of years ago.

So far, I think Falcon and Minotaur are the only successful launchers with a fully automatic FTS that will fire if the launcher flies out of parameter to a significant or dangerous degree.
Click to expand...

Forgot that the Ariane "terminate" system was not fully automated. My mistake. Thanks TomS.
 
Hobbes said:
It's much appreciated to have a full writeup rather than an offhand Twitter post.
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Indeed. I do feel that those who wish to follow these tweets can just subscribe directly, I see little point in mirroring them all here where we are expected to click through for post after post. Can we please:
a) Save it for the momentous announcements, and
b) repeat the gist of it here, to save clicking through?
 
Michel Van said:
my guess what went wrong
after drop the rocket is in free fall
the propellants are for short moment in zero gravity
and forming mixture of pressure gas and liquid fuel
as rocket engine start up the Turbopump suck in that mixture
and the engine chokes on this and shot down
special if helium is in that mixture
Click to expand...

Except it lit and ran for several seconds. There are some small solid rockets for propellant settling that fire after release to accelerate the rocket and ensure that there is liquid in the fuel lines.
 
Last edited:
edwest said:
Virgin Galactic will train astronauts for NASA.

www.cnbc.com

Shares of Virgin Galactic surge after announcement that it will train astronauts for NASA

Virgin Galactic signed an agreement with NASA that will allow the space tourism venture to train astronauts for trips to the International Space Station.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
Click to expand...

Who would have thought that Virgin Galactic would be training astronauts. By the way anybody know what happened to the Vomit Comet? The plane that originally trained the astronauts?
 
As is the case with classified projects coming to light, there is always movement behind the scenes.
 
FighterJock said:
Who would have thought that Virgin Galactic would be training astronauts. By the way anybody know what happened to the Vomit Comet? The plane that originally trained the astronauts?
Click to expand...

So, the original Vomit Comets were some Air Force C-131s. I'm not sure anyone knows what became of those specific aircraft.

NASA had a couple of KC-135s from 1973 to 2004, then a C-9 until 2014. Now, they contract it out to Zero-G, which flies a 727 and also does private flights for entertainment or research.
 
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
Who would have thought that Virgin Galactic would be training astronauts. By the way anybody know what happened to the Vomit Comet? The plane that originally trained the astronauts?
Click to expand...

So, the original Vomit Comets were some Air Force C-131s. I'm not sure anyone knows what became of those specific aircraft.

NASA had a couple of KC-135s from 1973 to 2004, then a C-9 until 2014. Now, they contract it out to Zero-G, which flies a 727 and also does private flights for entertainment or research.
Click to expand...

I forgot about Zero-G flying a 727, thanks TomS.
 
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
Who would have thought that Virgin Galactic would be training astronauts. By the way anybody know what happened to the Vomit Comet? The plane that originally trained the astronauts?
Click to expand...

So, the original Vomit Comets were some Air Force C-131s. I'm not sure anyone knows what became of those specific aircraft.

NASA had a couple of KC-135s from 1973 to 2004, then a C-9 until 2014. Now, they contract it out to Zero-G, which flies a 727 and also does private flights for entertainment or research.
Click to expand...

& the occasional music video:


 
www.bbc.co.uk

Branson's Virgin rocket takes satellites to orbit

Sir Richard Branson's rocket company succeeds in putting its first satellites in space.
www.bbc.co.uk

Interestingly, the rocket part is actually a two-step rocket, making this a three-stage-to-orbit system (Not sure whether "LauncherOne" refers to the second stage only or also includes the third).

Will be interesting to see the cost-per-kilo of this system compared to those of the two-stage megarockets.
 

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