The backbone of the Branson venture, called Virgin Galactic, will be five vehicles based on SS2. Each will be capable of flying at least five and more likely around eight people at one time.
SpaceShipTwo will not look anything like its predecessor. For one thing, Rutan must fix a stability problem caused by SpaceShipOne's high upswept wings.
For another, Rutan and Branson plan a ship of luxury, with service and amenities that at least match Virgin Atlantic's upper-class travel service. And that, as any airline flier knows, starts with leg room.
Rutan said SpaceShipTwo would have about the same diameter crew cabin as a Gulfstream V business jet, which measures slightly more than 6ft in height and 7ft in width (1.9m by 2.2m).
Seats will fully recline so that even elderly passengers - Rutan and Branson both plan to fly their elderly fathers - will be able to handle the expected force of six times Earth's gravity upon descent.
This is good news, and I hope it becomes popular so the price comes down. Once a relatively average joe has a shot at going for a trip into space and telling folks about it, this may get more and mor eof the public aware of the space program and see it as somethiong that can have an immediate impact on their lives.
It may also, hopefully, wake people up to the fact that space "belongs" to all of us and none of us at the same time, and get people to seriously question NASA's waste and priorities.
Let's just hope the momentum builds instead of fizzles, a la post-Apollo.
Something about Libertarianism always bothered me. Then one day, I realized what it was:
Libertarian philosophy can be boiled down to the phrase, "Work Will Make You Free."
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around! If all you want to do is have some harmless, mindless fun, go H3RE INST3ADZ0RZ!! Grrr! Fight my Brute, you pansy!
Are you volunteering I now I would. As for the idea of it taking off look how long it took just a few simple airline to start up compared to this. Considering the first flight was in 1903 and it wasn't intill 1914 that you could pay for a seat and in 1918 Post Master General stepped in but the goverment didnt do anthing else intill the Kelly Act of 1925. Now compare that to spaceship one within weeks the goverment stepped in and regulated the industry already. Its going to be interesting to see what hapens next thats for sure.
