In the Mojave desert, Richard Branson today showed off for the first time the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft that will launch his commercial space craft SpaceShipTwo.

More info a the official site Virgin Galactic

Obviously a complete coincidence that this coincides with NASA's 50th. picked by pocksucket 1 year ago

Follow up to willster's earlier post about Sir Richard Branson's space tourism endeavor.

dmmit I've fixed this themepic crop 2 times now.... picked by suebe 2 years ago

On April 12, 1961, the Soviets launched a 27-year-old fighter pilot named Yuri Gagarin on the world's first piloted space mission. picked by suebe 3 years ago

NASA discovered that space shuttle Atlantis has been holed by a tiny piece of space debris. The 1/10-inch hole represents the second largest debris damage event ever identified. Fortunately, it missed everything that was important to the mission. Space debris is an increasingly challenging problem. picked by Fanatic 3 years ago

Astrium, the space systems arm of European aerospace company EADS, says it wants to build a four-passenger rocket-equipped jet to send space tourists to an altitude of 100 km (60 miles) above the earth for three minutes of weightlessness and a rare view of Earth's curvature. picked by DrNothing 2 years ago

A blog post suggests that Hubble could be kept in a high-orbit 'museum' rather than being made to crash into the Earth's atmosphere. picked by sparky 3 years ago

The company is working with UK space exploration company Surrey Small Satellites on plans to develop a launcher that could propel a 200kg satellite into space at roughly 10pc the cost of current technology. picked by kakana 4 months ago

The new cargo ship is poised to launch toward the station on Sept. 10 at 1:01 p.m. EDT (1701 GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on a shakedown cruise. If all goes well, the inaugural spacecraft, called the H-2 Transfer Vehicle 1 (HTV-1), should arrive at the station on Sept. 17. picked by kakana 3 months ago

Amazing flight demo! I hope I live long enough to do something like this. Richard Branson (Virgin) is just the guy to do it too.

See also:
(BBC news coverage posted by mrnelson) picked by ogri2003 2 years ago

Sir Richard Branson is set to unveil a mock-up of the Virgin vehicle that will carry customers into space. picked by mrnelson 3 years ago

Scientists sent Salmonella bacteria to the International Space Station aboard two space shuttle missions in September 2006 and March 2008. The researchers found that when the bacteria were cultured in the microgravity environment of orbit, they became more virulent than those on Earth. The findings showed that the conditions in which the bacteria grows affect how dangerous it will become. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Blue Origin, another competitor in the burgeoning private access to space market, has released news(with video) of a successful test flight 11 November. The company is backed by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. picked by Fanatic 3 years ago

The concept of a space elevator has long been a dream for scientists and has here to date been a staple for science fiction authors. Japan hopes to change that and make the dream a reality. picked by bernardblack 1 year ago

The Indian space programme hit a minor snag when it came to the menu. Many traditional dishes have side effects that you don't necessarily want in a confined space with limited breathable air on board. The Defence Food Research Laboratory have stepped up to help create a more pleasant atmosphere. picked by pocksucket 8 months ago

A space storm has been observed exploding from a central point in Earth's upper atmosphere for the first time. The result could one day lead to better predictions of the storms, which can harm satellites and power grids on the ground. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz has developed a plasma rocket which could cut the cost of space travel by more than half, transforming the aerospace business and clearing the way to exploration for more countries, such as his native Costa Rica. For now, Franklin plans to use the rocket, called the VASIMR, as a a mail-carrier for outer space, a garbage truck for orbital debris and, the ul... read full post picked by analumass 5 days ago

After its launch into space in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was stuck with blurry vision because its mirror wasn't quite right. It was the butt of jokes by late night comics; an editorial cartoon said its designer was Mr. Magoo, a nearsighted cartoon character. It seemed like a massively overbudget screw-up. picked by kakana 7 months ago

A new picture of a sunrise from space was taken with a handheld camera by astronauts Friday on the day the Space Shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station during shuttle mission STS-127.

Earth's atmosphere appears as a thin crescent shape ranging from white to blue to purple, while the planet in the foreground is a black as the void beyond. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Catching a free ride to Mars takes more than sticking out a thumb, but some hardy Earth bacteria could survive as hitchhikers clinging to the outside of spacecraft, studies have shown. Now a set of experiments going up with space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station will test how exposure to the harshness of space might change bacteria during a simulated Mars mission. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A moth-like structure with a 22-billion-mile wingspan is hovering out in space. This giant is actually a massive cloud of dust surrounding a nearby, young star imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope that has shown astronomers that these dust disks can take on unexpectedly unusual shapes. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago