Virgin Galactic revealed WhiteKnight2 yesterday. I’m a big supporter of the idea of private space flight.
MOJAVE, California — After years of secretive construction, Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic presented the first stage of their commercial launch platform, WhiteKnightTwo, today at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
Sir Richard Branson explains his motive for creating Virgin Galactic: “Seeing the planet from out there surrounded by the incredibly thin layer of atmosphere helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small proportion of the planet’s mass that we inhabit and to the importance of protecting the Earth.”
I have no idea why Branson is rambling about protecting the Earth. I suppose that’s a good idea, but I’m more interested in exploring the universe around us. If humanity does not destroy the Earth it will still eventually run out of room. We need pioneers to explore off planet. NASA will never do so at the necessary pace because it is a government bureaucracy. Private companies are the only realistic option for getting out getting out into the universe. That is my current perspective.
The unveiling of WK2 comes one year and two days after the fatal explosion that killed three Scaled Composites employees. Shortly thereafter one of Richard Branson’s close friends, Steve Fossett went missing during a small-plane flight. The second WK2 (or possibly the SS2) will be named The Spirit of Steve Fossett in his memory.
Although SpaceShipTwo is still under development and construction, Virgin Galactic expects to fly its first commercial space flights somewhere between 2009 and 2011. Virgin Galactic has not set a deadline for Scaled Composite’s delivery of the SS2, giving Scaled ample time to manufacture a craft that will be safe, “Safety first, we are not in a race, we will launch only when Scaled and Virgin feel it is safe to do so,” Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites are ushering in a new era of transportation, travel and tourism. Currently entry into space is only provided by government institutions. Soon anyone with a few hundred thousand dollars laying around will be able to leave our atmosphere, if only for a few minutes.
I hope that space tourism leads to space exploration on a scale we are not talking about seriously in 2008. I grew up reading Ben Bova, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. I have an imagination and I want to see what’s out there. It’s a big, wonderful universe. Let’s go see it!