The new Virgin Galactic air/space craft has been unveiled.

Richard Branson has unveiled the new craft at Mojave Spaceport. Flight tests were set to begin in September 2008. . Branson predicts the maiden space voyage will take place in 18 months:

“It represents… the chance for our ever-growing group of future astronauts and other scientists to see our world in a completely new light.“

The craft is planned to make suborbital flights, with a short period of weightlessness. At around 16 kilometers or 52,000 ft, the rocket will separate when the plane reaches its maximum height. The time from liftoff of the White Knight II booster carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of SpaceShipTwo after the suborbital flight will be about 2.5 hours. The suborbital flight itself will only be a small fraction of that time. The weightlessness will last approximately 6 minutes. Passengers will be able to release themselves from their seats during these 6 minutes and float around the cabin

Virgin Galactic contracted aerospace designer Burt Rutan to build the mothership and spacecraft

Richard Branson has christened the mothership “Eve” after his mother, who joined in the official naming ceremony. The image of the woman on the side of the plane, Galactic Girl, is based on photos of his mom as a young woman.

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