VSS Enterprise
| VSS Enterprise | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| VSS Enterprise, the first SpaceShipTwo spaceplane, attached to its carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve | |
| Type | Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Construction number | 1 |
| Registration | N339SS |
| First flight | 10 October 2010 (manned gliding flight)
29 April 2013 (powered flight) |
| Owners and operators | Virgin Galactic |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Fate |
Crashed 31 October 2014 |
29 April 2013 (powered flight)
VSS Enterprise (tail number: N339SS) was the first SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spaceplane, built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. As of 2004, it was planned to be the first of five commercial suborbital SS2 spacecraft planned by Virgin Galactic. It was also the first ship of the Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo class, based on upscaling the design of record-breaking SpaceShipOne.
The VSS Enterprise's name was an acknowledgement of the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek television series. The spaceplane also shared its name with NASA's prototype space shuttle, as well as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. It was rolled out on 7 December 2009.
SpaceShipTwo made its first powered flight in April 2013. Richard Branson said it "couldn't have gone more smoothly".
Enterprise was destroyed during a powered test flight on 31 October 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. An investigation revealed the accident was caused by premature deployment of the "feathering" system, the ship's descent device; the NTSB also faulted the spacecraft's design for lacking fail-safe mechanisms that could have deterred or prevented early deployment.
Initial projections by Virgin Galactic in 2008 called for test flights to begin in late 2009 and commercial service to start in 2011. This schedule was not achieved, with captive carry and glide flight tests beginning in 2010, and the first test flight under rocket power was not until 2013.
In October 2009, Virgin Galactic CEO Will Whitehorn outlined the flight test program for SpaceShipTwo. The test program includes seven phases:
...
Wikipedia