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- Issue 9 |
| February 2008 | |
Visit the Virgin Galactic website | Read the Economist article |
| Thank you for registering an interest in www.virgingalactic.com and welcome to this Special Edition Virgin Galactic Newsletter which is devoted to our recent 'Year of the SpaceShip' unveil event on January 23rd in New York. |
| VIRGIN GALACTIC REVEAL THE DESIGN OF SS2/WK2 | ||||||||||||||
George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic's Senior Advisor, introduced the
presentation panel (Sir Richard Branson, Chairman Virgin Group; Burt Rutan, CEO Scaled Composites; Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic President; Stephen Attenborough, Virgin Galactic Commercial Director) and welcomed the press, customers and our partners from Industry including
Foster + Partners, Pratt and Whitney, EAA AirVenture, Mojave Air and Space Port, DMJM Aviation, Virtuoso, X Prize Foundation, Swedish Space Corporation, URS, NASTAR, Spaceport America and Wyle Laboratories.
After a brief history on manned space vehicles and the use of composite materials, Will explained our objectives and updated the audience on what we had been up to over the past three years.
Richard Branson then took the microphone and welcomed everyone to the historic occasion and described how 2008 really would be the 'Year of the Spaceship'. 'If our new system could carry only people into space that would be enough for me, because of the transforming effect it will have on the thousands who will travel with us. It is quite clear from every astronaut that I have spoken to - including SpaceShipOne test pilots Brian Binnie and Mike Melville - that seeing the planet from out there, surrounded by the incredibly thin protective layer of atmosphere, helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small portion of the planet's mass that we inhabit, and to the importance of protecting the Earth'. 
'It was Stephen Hawking who first got me thinking about this issue, when he explained clearly and concisely to the BBC that mankind had no option but to get to space as quickly as possible and start doing things up there that we have been doing on planet Earth, but in a much more efficient manner.
Our population is now heading to 9 billion people by the middle of this century -- that's three times more than when I was born. With the end of the oil era approaching, and climate change progressing faster than most models have been predicting, the utilisation of space is essential not only for communications but also for the logistics of survival through things such as weather satellites, agricultural monitoring, GPS and climate science'.
He pointed out that, while the first priority for Virgin Galactic is developing the market for human spaceflight, the company is already assessing the potential for unmanned launch capabilities. 'The fact that this system will have the capability to launch small payloads and satellites at low cost is hugely important. As far as science is concerned, this system offers tremendous potential to researchers who will be able to run experiments much more often than before, and help to answer key questions about Earth's climate and the mysteries of the universe. Consider research - it is currently just too expensive to be able to do most of the things in space from which industries like biotechnology could really benefit. The beauty of WK2 and SS2 is that they can help change the paradigm of our relationship with space, achieving an era where space accessibility becomes a commercial and scientific norm, rather than an exception'.
Stephen Attenborough, Virgin Galactic's Commercial Director, warmly thanked over a hundred of Virgin Galactic's customers who had travelled from around the globe to attend the Press Conference and explained how they 'provided Virgin with an early assurance that our business had a ready market, which would justify our faith and investment in developing the vehicles and establishing the world's first commercial space line'.
He described the overwhelming response to the business and how at present more than 85,000 people have registered an interest in becoming Virgin Galactic Astronauts and that Virgin Galactic have secured many millions in deposits.
The audience heard how around 80 of Virgin Galactic's Founder customers had joined us on a series of G-Force training days at the NASTAR centrifuge facility in Philadelphia and how in those two days, each of them experienced something normally the sole preserve of fast jet pilots and astronauts. He explained how 50 of our specially-appointed Accredited Space Travel Agents had also successfully completed this training and that NASTAR will shortly be opening the experience to the general public. The Centrifuge Training film showed Richard, his son Sam and many of our customers demonstrating the excitement felt when experiencing G forces and allowed the audience to share their exhilaration. Stephen noted that Virgin Galactic achieved a 93% success rate with these activities, which was 10-15% higher than our original business plan projections. 
'Our youngest centrifuge rider was Sam Branson at 22, and our oldest was Professor James Lovelock at 88 – as far as we know, the youngest and the oldest individuals to have sustained high G's'.
'Overall, we proved conclusively that ordinary people can go to space and that, actually, almost all of us have the right stuff'. | ||||||||||||||
'We wanted to give WK2 the capability of carrying not just the spaceship with eight people on suborbital flights, but also have the open architecture which could allow people to develop vehicles capable of other things: unmanned vehicles which could truly revolutionise the industrial applications of space at a time when civilization needs all the technological help it can get'.
Will closed his presentation with some unique footage from the factory floor at Scaled and pointed out how WK2 is over seventy percent complete and how Burt Rutan and his team are preparing to commence test flights later this year and how it will be the largest all composite aircraft ever built .
Richard congratulated Burt 'on designing and building a system that will allow thousands of people to realize their dreams and that will act as a catalyst to transform human access to space'. Richard and Burt then revealed the design of SS2 and WK2 by pulling back some 'hanger doors' unveiling two beautiful models of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnight Two'.
After a enthusiastic applause and a lengthy round of flash photography, the audience settled and allowed Burt to take the microphone.
Making full use of the stunning models (including a fully motorized feathering model of SS2), Burt gave an update on the technical design and invited his team from Scaled onto the stage.
| STUNNING NEW LIVERY AND GALACTIC GIRL LOGO! | |||
Before Richard's closing remarks, he commented 'if one has a mothership, one may as well call it after your mother!' He totally surprised his mother Eve who was sitting in the audience by saying how the new Virgin Galactic logo of 'Galactic Girl' on the front of the SS2 and WK2 had been inspired by an old black and white image of her taken in the 1940s when she was one of the original 'flying girls'. A very thrilled Eve Branson was invited on stage to be presented with a beautifully framed image of the Galactic Girl logo.
In addition to the models of SS2/WK2, other exhibits were provided by partner organizations NASTAR, Pratt and Whitney and Foster + Partners. NASTAR displayed a model of their centrifuge, Pratt and Whitney exhibited one of their cutting edge engines which will be installed on WK2 and Foster + Partners presented a stunning model of the Spaceport America design for New Mexico.
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Richard and Burt should be applauded for their energy as they repeated their presentations along with the rest of the panel to 60 of Virgin Galactic's Accredited Space Agents (ASAs) who had just returned from Philadelphia and their Centrifuge Training. The ASAs also had the additional bonus of having Brian Binnie present and they demonstrated their enthusiasm for the business by giving the speakers enthusiastic applause.
| VIRGIN GALACTIC HOSTS YEAR OF THE SPACESHIP PARTY IN ROSE CENTRE FOR EARTH AND SPACE |
The orb shaped planetarium, lit in a deep cobalt blue and with suspended planets encased in the immense glass cube, was the perfect venue for the Virgin Galactic party on the evening of the 23rd January.
Projections of the Virgin Galactic iris, various galaxies and the aurora borealis, along with the running of the new animation (SS2/WK2 flight) on the video wall and a variety of projections onto the dome turned the room into a Virgin Galactic space odyssey. The SS2 and WK2 models were placed strategically around the room in front of various screens which brought the models to life and gave the impression that they were in flight. Guests dressed with a 'hint of silver' sipped champagne cocktails and danced the night away to an amazing set by DJ Tommie Sunshine. Richard thanked everyone for coming to the event and for their ongoing support of Virgin Galactic. |
| PRESS - THE ECONOMIST |
| Starship Enterprise: the next generation! Click here to read this article. |
| ASTRONAUT TRAINING PACKAGES NOW AVAILABLE AT THE NASTAR CENTER |
Virgin Galactic are delighted to announce that NASTAR Center, who provided centrifuge training for our
Founder Astronauts and Richard Branson last year, are now taking reservations from the public for their
commercial astronaut training packages. These are the closest thing you can get to a Virgin Galactic spaceflight
with the training taking place in the SpaceShipTwo centrifuge capsule where you not only get to do G training in
order to find out if you have the 'right stuff' for a sub-orbital space flight but you will also experience a
multi-sensorial real time simulation of our spaceflight profile from launch to re-entry through high-tech
audio-visuals. There is a one-day introductory package, a full two-day Virgin Galactic training experience
and a one-day refresher for anyone that has already completed the two-day course. For more information or to
make a reservation please visit www.NASTARcenter.com/adventures or click here to find your nearest Virgin Galactic Accredited Space Agent who can also make a reservation for you.
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| FUTURE EVENTS |
Virgin Galactic Customers Forum, SwedenMembers of the Virgin Galactic team will be traveling to Kiruna in the North of Sweden (inside the Arctic Circle and a possible base for Virgin Galactic flights) for a very special Customer Forum which will be hosted by the Swedish Space Corporation and the ICEHOTEL at the end of March. 
EAA AirVenture 28th July – 3rd August, 2008 OshkoshBetween 28th July - 3rd August 2008, members of the Virgin Galactic team will be in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to participate in EAA AirVenture 2008. Over 750,000 people from 70 nations participate in this event which brings together everything from the fundamentals of do-it-yourself aircraft construction and grass-strip takeoffs to the sophistication of the latest technology for the sky. EAA AirVenture is not only a spectator event - each year's friendships build a worldwide community of aviation enthusiasts. 59th International Astronautical Congress, Glasgow, Scotland, 29 September and 3 October 2008 At the end of September Virgin Galactic is planning to participate in the next IAC Conference which is being held in Glasgow in the world class Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre situated on the banks of the River Clyde. IAC 2008 will provide an international focus for the global space industry, academic researchers and students worldwide through the presentation of the latest ideas, current activities and future ambitions across a diverse range of space-related topics. |
| STILL WANT MORE? |
| For more information, and to register your interest in flying with us, or just for updates on progress, you can visit the website at http://www.virgingalactic.com. |
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Let the Journey Begin!!! |
to make a reservation, visit www.virgingalactic.com |
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Virgin Galactic Company Registration Number: 5802809. Registered in England & Wales. Registered Office: 120 Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AR. |