Summary
VMS Eve (Tail number: N348MS[3]) is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips.
| VMS Eve | |
|---|---|
| |
| VMS Eve's maiden flight | |
| Role | Spaceship carrier / launcher |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Designer | Robert Morgan, James Tighe[1][2] |
| First flight | 21 December 2008 |
| Primary user | Virgin Galactic |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | White Knight One |
| Type | WhiteKnightTwo |
| Construction number | 001 |
| Registration | N348MS |
VMS Eve was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. The "VMS" prefix stands for "Virgin MotherShip".[4]
Public launch edit
The aircraft was named after Evette Branson, the mother of Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The jet plane has nose art of a blonde woman holding a banner with the Virgin Galactic logo.[5] The image is based on how Evette Branson looked when she was younger and is called Galactic Girl.[6] The aircraft was officially launched on July 28, 2008, in Mojave, California, the United States, at the Mojave Spaceport, home of Scaled Composites. On December 12, 2008, the aircraft performed first taxi tests,[7] and a week later the maiden flight.[8] Eve is being used in the Virgin Galactic testflight program, preceding entry into commercial usage.[9]
Burt Rutan has dismissed fears that pressurization cycles might induce fatigue failure in the composite structure.[10] Richard Branson has also announced that it will be highly fuel efficient.[11]
Flight test program edit
The initial flight occurred on 21 December 2008, after an initial low speed taxi test was carried out at Mojave[12] followed by a high speed taxi on 16 December.[13] By September 2009 the flight envelope was extended to 50000 feet.[14] as of 19 September 2014[update] the total flight time for WhiteKnightTwo is 333.96 hours.
References edit
- Citations
- ^ US patent D612791, Morgan, Robert & Tighe, James, "U.S. Design Patent 612,719 for the ornamental design for an aircraft", issued 2010-03-30
- ^ "WK2 Rollout Audio Clips (parts 4 & 6)". Movaje Skies. 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
- ^ "FAA N Number Registration for "Eve"". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- ^ CNet News, Virgin Galactic's faces of Eve, July 28, 2008 1:08 PM PDT, Candace Lombardi
- ^ Sher, Lauren (July 28, 2008). "Virgin Galactic Announces New Space Aircraft". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
- ^ Chicago Tribune, Branson reveals mother ship, July 29, 2008
- ^ AVweb, WhiteKnight2 Completes Taxi Test, December 16, 2008
- ^ The Space Fellowship, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Mothership Makes Maiden Flight, December 21, 2008
- ^ The Register, Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership, Tuesday 29th July 2008 10:32 UTC, Scott Snowden
- ^ Rob Coppinger (29 July 2008)"Rutan: Fatigue 'is not an issue' for WhiteKnightTwo", Flightglobal
- ^ National Geographic, Virgin Galactic Unveils WhiteKnightTwo Space Plane, July 28, 2008, Ker Than
- ^ Coppinger, Rob (13 Dec 2008). "World Exclusive Video: SpaceShipTwo mothership runway trial". London. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
Source: Flight International
- ^ Coppinger, Rob (17 Dec 2008). "Exclusive Video: WhiteKnightTwo makes high speed taxi, deploys spoilers". London. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
Source: Flight International
- ^ Coppinger, Rob (30 April 2009), Scaled plans 50,000ft WhiteKnight Two flight by September, London,
Source: Flight International
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
- Bibliography
- BBC News, Branson unveils space tourism jet, 20:42 UTC, Monday, 28 July 2008 UK
- Los Angeles Times, Richard Branson unveils his space plane, July 29, 2008, Peter Pae
- Wired, Virgin Galactic Unveils White Knight Two Launch Vehicle, 07.29.08,Dave Bullock
- New York Times, New Steps in Private Space Travel, July 29, 2008, John Schwartz
- Reuters, Branson unveils plane to launch spaceship, Mon Jul 28, 2008 Fred Prouser
- Associated Press, Alicia Chang (July 25, 2008). "New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft]". Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- Scientific American, Forget the Dark Knight--the White Knight Two mothership has arrived, Jul 28, 2008 Adam Hadhazy
- New Scientist, Virgin Galactic rolls out SpaceShipTwo's 'mothership', 28 July 2008, Rachel Courtland
- Telegraph, Sir Richard Branson unveils Virgin's spaceship, 29 Jul 2008, James Quinn
External links edit
- Virgin Galactic - news
- Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mothership Eve Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine - Jul 28, 2008 Press Release
- Scaled Composites, WHITEKNIGHTTWO FLIGHT TEST SUMMARIES Archived 2012-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
See also edit
- Blue Origin LPV Jacklyn, Blue Origin vehicle named after the founder's mother