Author Topic: Stratolaunch's Monster Jet Completes First Test-Drive Down Runway  (Read 419 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Online Buster's Uncle

  • With community service, I
  • Ascend
  • *
  • Posts: 49574
  • €483
  • View Inventory
  • Send /Gift
  • Because there are times when people just need a cute puppy  Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur  A WONDERFUL concept, Unity - & a 1-way trip that cost 400 trillion & 40 yrs.  
  • AC2 is my instrument, my heart, as I play my song.
  • Planet tales writer Smilie Artist Custom Faction Modder AC2 Wiki contributor Downloads Contributor
    • View Profile
    • My Custom Factions
    • Awards
Stratolaunch's Monster Jet Completes First Test-Drive Down Runway
Space.com
By Megan Gannon, Live Science Contributor |  December 19, 2017 03:31pm ET



Stratolaunch's rocket-launching mothership was driven down the runway for the first time this past weekend.

The double-bodied jet —which has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in the world —has been undergoing tests at Stratolaunch's facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The latest phase in this process was testing the aircraft's steering and stopping capabilities.

Video footage of the taxi test showed the plane rolling along at a slow speed. Afterward, Stratolaunch officials said the vehicle's steering, braking, anti-skid and telemetry systems all operated as anticipated.



The Stratolaunch double-bodied jet underwent its first test down the runway recently at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California  Credit: Stratolaunch

 
"Our crew was able to demonstrate ground directional control with nose gear steering, and our brake systems were exercised successfully on the runway,"George Bugg, Stratolaunch's aircraft program manager, said in a statement. "Our first low speed taxi test is a very important step toward first flight. We are all proud and excited."

The private spaceflight company Stratolaunch is the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The carrier plane is designed to make a runway-style takeoff and then, at cruising altitude, deploy rockets that can launch small satellites into low-Earth orbit.

The monster jet was only rolled out from its scaffolding in May. This weekend's latest milestone comes three months after the company successfully tested the six engines on the colossal airplane for the first time. Stratolaunch officials have said they hope to have the aircraft in flight by the end of the decade, and the Mojave Air and Space Port will eventually be the company's center of operations.

The aircraft weighs 500,000 lbs. (227,000 kilograms), and it can carry another 550,000 lbs. (almost 250,000 kg) with up to three rockets under the conjoined wing at the center of the vehicle. Its wingspan is longer than a football field, measuring 386 feet (118 meters) across.

The aircraft was built by Scaled Composites, the Mojave-based aerospace company founded by spaceship builder Burt Rutan. Scaled Composites is also behind the design for White Knight Two, the mothership built to launch Virgin Galactic’s tourist-carrying space plane.


https://www.space.com/39156-stratolaunch-aircraft-taxi-test.html

Offline Unorthodox

Re: Stratolaunch's Monster Jet Completes First Test-Drive Down Runway
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2017, 01:56:38 PM »
Man that thing is ugly. 

 

* User

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

Select language:

* Community poll

SMAC v.4 SMAX v.2 (or previous versions)
-=-
24 (7%)
XP Compatibility patch
-=-
9 (2%)
Gog version for Windows
-=-
103 (32%)
Scient (unofficial) patch
-=-
40 (12%)
Kyrub's latest patch
-=-
14 (4%)
Yitzi's latest patch
-=-
89 (28%)
AC for Mac
-=-
3 (0%)
AC for Linux
-=-
6 (1%)
Gog version for Mac
-=-
10 (3%)
No patch
-=-
16 (5%)
Total Members Voted: 314
AC2 Wiki Logo
-click pic for wik-

* Random quote

The entire character of a base and its inhabitants can be absorbed in a quick trip to the Rec Commons. The sweaty arenas of Fort Legion, the glittering gambling halls of Morgan Bank, the sunny lovers' trysts in Gaia's High Garden, or the somber reading rooms of U.N. Headquarters. Even the feeding bay at the Hive gives stark insight into the sleeping demons of Yang's communal utopia.
~Commissioner Pravin Lal 'A Social History of Planet'

* Select your theme

*
Templates: 5: index (default), PortaMx/Mainindex (default), PortaMx/Frames (default), Display (default), GenericControls (default).
Sub templates: 8: init, html_above, body_above, portamx_above, main, portamx_below, body_below, html_below.
Language files: 4: index+Modifications.english (default), TopicRating/.english (default), PortaMx/PortaMx.english (default), OharaYTEmbed.english (default).
Style sheets: 0: .
Files included: 47 - 1280KB. (show)
Queries used: 42.

[Show Queries]