“Space Exploration has already been a great unifier”, he said.
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“Obviously it was a horrendous day when it happened and I must admit we had moments where I questioned if we should carry on”, Branson admitted.
The luxury SUV with Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson on board took on the less glamorous role of spacecraft tug for the unveiling of SpaceShipTwo at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Virgin says it has several obstacles to clear before welcoming its first passengers, with multiple test flights planned to assess the craft’s parts and steadily increase its flight altitude; the firm, however, declined to set a new date for the craft’s first passenger flights.
“Clearly, champagne would be inappropriate, [although] it never did me any harm, and certainly hasn’t done my wife any harm, so do we have any milk?” asked Branson, who soon after watched on as Eva-Deia, helped by her mother and father, smashed the milk bottle across the nose of the newly-named spaceship.
“It’s pretty cool to be taking people to space”, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson said Friday at an unveiling ceremony at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. “We look forward to fulfilling our aim as The Spaceship Company with vehicles of the future for Virgin Galactic and the rest of the industry”.
“I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship”, Hawking said. However Unity will be used for dual objective, first it will be used for flight testing and then it is scheduled to become the very first commercial space shuttle in the world. It will go through a testing period.
Virgin Galactic CEO George T. Whitesides said: “We seek to open space to people from all walks of life, and today’s milestone is big step toward that goal”. The manufacturing of the second spaceship had already been taken over by The Spaceship Company (TSC) – a subsidiary of Virgin Galactic – when the accident occurred.
These vehicle changes haven’t been tested in flight yet, though. The company insisted that they will launch it once it is ready.
First revealed in 2008, SpaceShipTwo was created to carry six passengers and two pilots for short flights into space. To ensure Hawking’s contributions are remembered even if he finds himself unable to personally fly into space, the company has now included a flag in the Unity’s logo bearing an image of Hawking’s eye.
The WashingtonPost News notes that, the ceremony included lofty rhetoric about making space travel accessible to the masses, and the appearance of Star Wars’ Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford, sitting in a front-row seat. Almost 700 people have signed up for rides, which cost $250,000 each.
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Hawking’s vision of space will now be a part of VSS Unity’s missions, literally and figuratively.
