Virgin Galactic: WhiteKnight II 1
Today marks the 50th anniversary of NASA and what a more fitting way to celebrate than to tell you about a historic event I took part in yesterday, out in the Mojave Desert. I stayed the night at the Embassy Suites at LAX and arrived at the Flight Path Learning Center (aka Imperial Highway Terminal) at 6 AM. The whole check in, breakfast, and lounging period took over an hour. The plane was full with press, VIP, and guests. We flew on the newest addition to the Virgin America fleet, an Airbus A-320 aptly named “My other ride’s a spaceship.” I am not joking!
Despite being only 25 minutes, the flight was so much fun. Each seat has an interactive touchscreen display and a remote control you can pull out of the armrests. There was satellite television, premium TV (think HBO, Showtime), on demand movies, foreign television, kid’s games, a chatroom, music videos, and music. I entered a chat with iJustine and seat 6C (Corporate Security!). I asked him why there was a game called “Mad Bomber?” stating it might be inappropriate. We also complained about the keyboards to which 6C replied “You can ask the designer, he’s on board.” At that moment, I realized that truly, the heads of state, the who’s who of Virgin Group was going to be at this event.
When we landed, media was scrambling to get off so they could take pictures of the people departing. Of interest were Buzz Aldrin, Sir Richard Branson, and his parents. I spoke briefly to Brian Lam from Gizmodo and I questioned the early start time. He said “I don’t know why it’s this early, but I am super excited.” Justine had said the same thing. I rarely attend any of these events so I am usually always excited. I expect it to be old hat for these “veterans” but seeing their genuine excitement made me further realize what a historic event this was.
We were hurried into the Scaled Composites hanger where TV cameras were already setup on a rear platform. We sat through long introductions for everyone from the local Congressman to Chief of Police. We were introduced to various CEO’s and a lead engineer for S.C. named Bob Morgan. After that was over, some music started playing and a loud voice started “initiating countdown.” I wish I took a video or pictures of this but I was so excited. I was literally stunned, frozen in anticipation. Halfway in, the hanger doors opened, and you could see a silhouette as the desert sun shone through the while curtains. Then they dropped and there she was, WhiteKnight II.
Here are some fun facts about the plane:
- It’s a twin boom design with a wingspan of 141 feet
- It is the only 100% carbon fiber composite aircraft. Even the flight control cables are carbon. Composite materials allow flexible designs and are lightweight and strong. The skins don’t buckle and fatigue is a non-issue.
- No bolts are used in the construction.
- SS2 seats 8 (6 passengers, 2 pilots) but can comfortably fit 11. They joked that Sir Richard only wanted to sell window seats.
- Though it can fly higher than WKI, the air is so thin up at that altitude that SpaceShipTwo cannot get the lift required. So it will launch at the same altitude, roughly 48,000 feet.
- The test flight program starts this fall.
- It uses custom software.
- The flight simulator for WK2 and SS2 are both functional and pilots from Virgin America are training on it.
- WhiteKnight II can carry large payloads including a single pod to the moon.
- WK2 was named Eve, after Sir Richard’s mother, and also because she (the plane) is the first in a new era of space travel.
- One important thing to note - Burt Rutan’s company, Scaled Composites, designed and built WK2 and (soon to be) SS2. These are both based on their predecessors, which won the Ansari X PRIZE for two flights to suborbit in a 14 day period. Many people are assuming that Virgin built these planes. That’s not the case.
- It uses four Pratt & Whitney jet engines, two on each boom.
- The first spaceport will be in New Mexico with talks pending in Sweden, Spain, Scotland, and Australasia.
- WhiteKnight II can fly coast to coast to different spaceports.
- Suborbital flight does not require perfect health since it’s relatively short.
- Initial flights will be priced at $200,000 per person, eventually dropping to $20,000 per person. It is understood that the first participants are paving the way for future travelers
- 270 reservations as of the unveiling. The number is up from the press kit value which must have been printed a few days in advance.
The rest of the morning was spent taking pictures and conducting interviews with the stars at the event. I only did the former since I am too nice and passive to push my way into any interviews. I had plenty of questions but before I got a word in, someone already asked theirs. I did listen in on an interesting conversation where Burt Rutan basically said that the future of advancement (of travel, space), was in the private sector and that he saw many problems with the X Prize and DARPA. Mainly, he did not like that the organizations spent so much on themselves and put so little of the money toward the prize. He also didn’t like the time limit imposed stating teams would accomplish the goal as fast as they could.
When the event was almost over, I went over to Buzz Aldrin to get him to sign my boarding pass. He was a very popular man at the event, as you can imagine, and I had to wait for him to finish talking two these two guys. He had some interesting things to say. I caught him mid-rant in which he stated that he felt the US was giving away everything we worked for [in science] and we are watching other countries making advancements and “taking what is rightfully ours.” He also said “We need CHANGE. isn’t that what Barrack keeps saying? But you know what? He just plans on sitting by while other countries defeat us! You know who brought change? Bush did. Why can’t there be another Bush in the White House for another four years?” I asked him for his autograph and he said no. I was going to say something to him, but I didn’t want him to punch me.
We boarded the plane and sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes for LAX to clear us. When we got back, there was a brunch spread. I ate a few bites then headed back to Santa Barbara tired, sweating, and excited for what the future holds.
Special thanks to Josh Spear and Devon Carey