As of today, a total of 340 aspiring astronauts have booked space flights with Virgin Galactic at a cost of $200,000 US. The space tourist will undergo three days of training to prepare them for their 2 hour flight. Weightlessness will be experienced for around 5 minutes before the craft returns to Earth. Astronauts will take off from a 2 mile long runway at the New Mexico space port named 'Spaceport America'. Spaceport America: At a cost of $200 million US, the three story spaceport will house Virgin Galactic's 'Spaceship Two' in a combined hanger and terminal. Virgin have secured a lease for the next 20 years to operate at Spaceport America. Now in its late stages of construction, the completion date original scheduled for 2010 has been pushed back until mid next year (2011)
Virgin's Spaceship Two:
SpaceShipTwo will reach a speed of roughly 4000 km/h (2500 mph), using a single hybrid rocket motor. SpaceShipTwo uses a feathered re-entry system, feasible due to the low speed of re-entry — by contrast, space shuttles and other orbital spacecraft re-enter at orbital speeds, closer to 25000 km/h (16000 mph), requiring the use of heat shields. SpaceShipTwo will carry 6 passengers and 2 pilots and launch in midair at 15 km from its mother ship, WhiteKnightTwo.
Flight animation:
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