Virgin Galactic Once a week at dawn, C.J. Sturckow guns a blue Extra 330SC stunt plane into the pink sky above the Mojave Desert. At 14,000 feet, the 5-foot-9 former NASA astronaut starts doing his "card" – a checklist of rolls and spins meant to simulate spaceflight's G-forces. White-knuckling the [...]
It's official: Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceflight revolution will be televised. Virgin Galactic's owner, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has inked a deal with NBC ensuring that the network will air live coverage of the inaugural flight of the company's private SpaceShipTwo rocket ship, as well as other special programs in [...]
The space-travel industry is more competitive than ever — and just as in all industries, there will be winners and losers You could be forgiven for thinking that everyone but you is going into space. You could also be forgiven for thinking that no one at all is going into [...]
WASHINGTON — In an attempt to forestall congressional direction of the process, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation has produced a 50-page list of safety practices that could serve as the cornerstone for future commercial human spaceflight safety regulations. Formally known as “Draft Established Practices [...]
