Virgin Galactic fires up

Steve Creedy

By Steve Creedy Wed May 30, 2018

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity is seen here firing up its rocket motor above the Mojave Desert. Unity is taken aloft from Virgin’s New Mexico spaceport by a unique double-hulled aircraft and ignites its rocket after separating from the mothership. This is designed to take the spaceship and its cargo of tourists it to the edge of space before a unique feathering system is deployed to bring them back to Earth. The system involves raising the ship’s unique tail booms to a 60-degree angle during the initial descent and then returning them to the normal position so it can glide to the ground.

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