Space News by Jeff Foust — August 4, 2017
Virgin Galactic performed the latest glide flight of its second SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane Aug. 4, calling it a “dry run” for upcoming powered test flights.
SpaceShipTwo, carried aloft by its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, separated from the plane about an hour after its 11:58 a.m. Eastern takeoff from Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The spaceplane landed back in Mojave ten minutes later.
The glide flight was the sixth for this SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, and the first in two months. As on two previous glide flights, pilots tested the feathering system that raises the vehicle’s twin tail booms for a safe reentry, then returned the tail booms to their normal position for landing.
This flight was the first to carry most of the hybrid propulsion system that will be used for future powered test flights. The spacecraft’s oxidizer tank was filled with nitrous oxide and a helium pressurant tank was also loaded. The only major component missing was the solid fuel casing, which was replaced on this flight with a ballast tank filled with water.
The test, the company said in a statement after the flight, was “essentially a dry run for rocket-powered flights.” Prior to release from WhiteKnightTwo, the SpaceShipTwo pilots tested venting of nitrous oxide from the tank. The ballast tank also allowed pilots to test landing of the vehicle with a heaviver weight and different center of gravity.
More:
http://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-carries-out-dry-run-for-powered-spaceshiptwo-flights/
