Virgin MotherShip (VMS) Eve (Tail number: N348MS) is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-class Virgin SpaceShips.
VMS Eve was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic.
Public launch
The aircraft was named after Evette Branson, the mother of Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The jet plane has nose art of a blonde woman holding a banner with the Virgin Galactic logo. The image is based on how Evette Branson looked when she was younger and is called Galactic Girl. The aircraft was officially launched on July 28, 2008, in Mojave, California, the United States, at the Mojave Spaceport, home of Scaled Composites. On December 12, 2008, the aircraft performed first taxi tests, and a week later the maiden flight. Eve was used in the Virgin Galactic testflight program before entry into commercial usage.
Burt Rutan has dismissed fears that pressurization cycles might induce fatigue failure in the composite structure. Richard Branson has also announced that it will be highly fuel efficient.
Flight test program
The initial flight occurred on 21 December 2008, after an initial low speed taxi test was carried out at Mojave followed by a high speed taxi on 16 December. By September 2009 the flight envelope was extended to 50000 feet. As of 19 September 2014 the total flight time for WhiteKnightTwo was 333.96 hours.
References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- BBC News, Branson unveils space tourism jet, 20:42 UTC, Monday, 28 July 2008 UK
- Los Angeles Times, Richard Branson unveils his space plane, July 29, 2008, Peter Pae
- Wired, Virgin Galactic Unveils White Knight Two Launch Vehicle, 07.29.08, Dave Bullock
- New York Times, New Steps in Private Space Travel, July 29, 2008, John Schwartz
- Reuters, Branson unveils plane to launch spaceship, Mon Jul 28, 2008 Fred Prouser
- Associated Press, Alicia Chang (July 25, 2008). "New space race heats up with unveiling of aircraft]". Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- Scientific American, Forget the Dark Knight--the White Knight Two mothership has arrived, Jul 28, 2008 Adam Hadhazy
- New Scientist, Virgin Galactic rolls out SpaceShipTwo's 'mothership', 28 July 2008, Rachel Courtland
- Telegraph, Sir Richard Branson unveils Virgin's spaceship, 29 Jul 2008, James Quinn
External links
- Virgin Galactic - news
- Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mothership Eve Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine - Jul 28, 2008 Press Release
- Scaled Composites, WHITEKNIGHTTWO FLIGHT TEST SUMMARIES Archived 2012-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
See also
- Blue Origin LPV Jacklyn, Blue Origin vehicle named after the founder's mother
