16 months after the crash that took the life of one of their pilots, Virgin Galactic unveils their latest spacecraft
- 8 years ago
MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA — Billionaire British entrepreneur Richard Branson on Friday unveiled the latest passenger spacecraft by his space tourism company, Virgin Galactic.
Dubbed Virgin Space Ship Unity, the spacecraft is part of the company's SpaceShipTwo line and bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor.
The VSS Unity replaces the Enterprise, which crashed in October 2014 in an accident that took the life of its test pilot.
That incident, which happened after the ship's rotating tail section was unlocked too soon during the spacecraft's descent, was blamed on human error, according to a Reuters report.
While lacking major cosmetic changes, the new spacecraft includes key security features to prevent similar issues from happening.
Once operational the spacecraft will be able to carry passengers up to 100 km above the planet, providing those willing to pay the necessary $250,000 for the ride, in addition to the view, with several minutes of weightlessness.
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Dubbed Virgin Space Ship Unity, the spacecraft is part of the company's SpaceShipTwo line and bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor.
The VSS Unity replaces the Enterprise, which crashed in October 2014 in an accident that took the life of its test pilot.
That incident, which happened after the ship's rotating tail section was unlocked too soon during the spacecraft's descent, was blamed on human error, according to a Reuters report.
While lacking major cosmetic changes, the new spacecraft includes key security features to prevent similar issues from happening.
Once operational the spacecraft will be able to carry passengers up to 100 km above the planet, providing those willing to pay the necessary $250,000 for the ride, in addition to the view, with several minutes of weightlessness.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus