Abstract
Those who have followed the media fanfare about the commercial suborbital flight industry over the past several years have cause to be a little disillusioned because it’s been quite a waiting game. After the euphoria of the X-Prize in 2004, space fans and media alike discussed the possibility of flying into space the following year or if not the following year then definitely the year after that. Virgin Galactic, along with other operators that comprised the nascent commercial spaceflight industry, fueled speculation that suborbital passenger flights were just around the corner by making promises they would soon be ready to fly you and your friends into space. Tickets were sold. Hundreds of them. Deadlines came and went. But nothing happened, except for the occasional test flight. One year stretched to two. Two became five. Five became 10. But, in 2014, more than 10 years following SpaceShipOne’s iconic flight (Figure 1.2), Virgin Galactic was finally tantalizingly within reach of realizing the promise of the historic 2004 flight. Until the tragic event of 31 October 2014 that is.
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Notes
- 1.
Following a thorough medical examination, Ham was placed at the Washington Zoo in 1963, where he lived alone until 1980, before being moved to the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro. Upon his death in January 1983, Ham’s skeleton was examined by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. His other remains were laid to rest in front of the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
- 2.
Robert White, Joseph Walker, Robert Rushworth, John “Jack” McKay, Joseph Engle, William “Pete” Knight, William Dana, and Michael Adams [7].
- 3.
The exact landing site of the capsule has been a subject of debate amongst space historians. Some say the capsule landed in China and others say it landed in Mongolia.
- 4.
Lazarev never flew to space again and never fully recovered from the accident, while Makarov made two flights to the Salyut 6 space station.
- 5.
The SpaceShipOne team deliberately chose October 4th as the date of their second attempt because of its significance in space history: 47 years earlier, the Soviets had put the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit – kicking off the first space race.
- 6.
The “N” in the designation is the prefix used by the FAA for US-registered aircraft and 328KF stands for 328 (kilo – “K”) feet (“F” in the designation), which is the official demarcation altitude for space.
Notes
www.virtualsciencecenter.com/airandspacemuseum/libertybell7.net/
www.owensarchive.com/aviation-3/test-aircraft-x-planes-349/north-american-x-15-322/
www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/North-American-X15/X-15info/X15-info.htm
Seedhouse, E. Tourists in Space: A Practical Guide. 2nd ed. Springer-Praxis. 2014.
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Seedhouse, E. (2015). Suborbital Flight: A Primer. In: Virgin Galactic. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09262-1_1
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