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VMS Eve

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This article is about Virgin Mothership. For computer text editor, see EVE (text editor).
VMS Eve
VMS Eve's maiden flight
General information
TypeWhiteKnightTwo
National originUnited States
ManufacturerScaled Composites
Designer
Robert Morgan, James Tighe[1][2]
Primary userVirgin Galactic
Number built1
Construction number001
RegistrationN348MS
History
First flight21 December 2008
Developed fromWhite Knight One

Virgin MotherShip (VMS) Eve[3] (Tail number: N348MS[4]) is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-class Virgin SpaceShips.

WhiteKnightTwo at its rollout and christening ceremony, July 28, 2008

VMS Eve was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic.

Public launch

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VMS Eve's nose art

The aircraft was named after Evette Branson, the mother of Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The jet plane has nose art of a blonde woman holding a banner with the Virgin Galactic logo.[5] The image is based on how Evette Branson looked when she was younger and is called Galactic Girl.[6] The aircraft was officially launched on July 28, 2008, in Mojave, California, the United States, at the Mojave Spaceport, home of Scaled Composites. On December 12, 2008, the aircraft performed first taxi tests,[7] and a week later the maiden flight.[8] Eve was used in the Virgin Galactic testflight program before entry into commercial usage.[9]

Burt Rutan has dismissed fears that pressurization cycles might induce fatigue failure in the composite structure.[10] Richard Branson has also announced that it will be highly fuel efficient.[11]

Flight test program

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The initial flight occurred on 21 December 2008, after an initial low speed taxi test was carried out at Mojave[12] followed by a high speed taxi on 16 December.[13] By September 2009 the flight envelope was extended to 50000 feet.[14] As of 19 September 2014 the total flight time for WhiteKnightTwo was 333.96 hours.

References

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Citations
  1. ^ US patent D612791, Morgan, Robert & Tighe, James, "U.S. Design Patent 612,719 for the ornamental design for an aircraft", issued 2010-03-30 
  2. ^ "WK2 Rollout Audio Clips (parts 4 & 6)". Movaje Skies. 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  3. ^ CNet News, Virgin Galactic's faces of Eve, July 28, 2008 1:08 PM PDT, Candace Lombardi
  4. ^ "FAA N Number Registration for "Eve"". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  5. ^ Sher, Lauren (July 28, 2008). "Virgin Galactic Announces New Space Aircraft". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  6. ^ Chicago Tribune, Branson reveals mother ship, July 29, 2008
  7. ^ AVweb, WhiteKnight2 Completes Taxi Test, December 16, 2008
  8. ^ The Space Fellowship, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Mothership Makes Maiden Flight, December 21, 2008
  9. ^ The Register, Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership, Tuesday 29th July 2008 10:32 UTC, Scott Snowden
  10. ^ Rob Coppinger (29 July 2008)"Rutan: Fatigue 'is not an issue' for WhiteKnightTwo", Flightglobal
  11. ^ National Geographic, Virgin Galactic Unveils WhiteKnightTwo Space Plane, July 28, 2008, Ker Than
  12. ^ Coppinger, Rob (13 Dec 2008). "World Exclusive Video: SpaceShipTwo mothership runway trial". London. Retrieved 2008-12-16. Source: Flight International
  13. ^ Coppinger, Rob (17 Dec 2008). "Exclusive Video: WhiteKnightTwo makes high speed taxi, deploys spoilers". London. Retrieved 2008-12-23. Source: Flight International
  14. ^ Coppinger, Rob (30 April 2009), Scaled plans 50,000ft WhiteKnight Two flight by September, London: Flightglobal, archived from the original on 4 May 2009, Source: Flight International
Bibliography
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to N348MS (aircraft).

See also

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  • Blue Origin LPV Jacklyn, Blue Origin vehicle named after the founder's mother
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