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Virgin Galactic to Launch from Scottish Base?
Lancey writes "The BBC reports that Richard Branson wants to launch Virgin Galactic space flights from a Royal Air Force base in Moray, Scotland, as early as 2010." From the article: "We are designing it so that we will be able to tour it around the world. So we will have a main base in New Mexico and we are looking at three bases outside there to be able to operate from."
I thought that it was better to launch things from the equator. Something about angular momentum, maybe? This is (I thought) why the ESA launches from Equatorial Guinea, or some such.
This post climbed Mt. Washington.
so... what is the news about SS2? (and possiblt SS3)
Anyone else feel like Branson's making headway on those dastardly ellipses? A couple of spaceports would sure go a long way for MY world domination schemes...
-1 raving lunatic; +6 subGenius... Things even out...
We don't discuss hypothetical questions on Slashdot.
Okay we do. For example, things like "if the Borg ran up against the Dominion, who would win?" Or, "If I could accelerate past the speed of gravity, go back in time, could I see Natalie Portman putting grits down my own pants".
But your not being a virgin is too far out there, even for Slashdot.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
... will probably be Scotty:
"Aye Cap'n Branson, but she can't take much more !"
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With 450+ days of rain each year up there, a shuttle could never do that.
If you add the latitude consideration and the possibility to organize flights for tourists, Spain or Moroco would seem a better idea.
Nothing to see here... no really! It's a broken link! Here's a working link to the article.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. - Douglas Adams
http://sounds.wavcentral.com/televis/snl/scottish_ crap.mp3 its crap!
The interesting thing is that he intends to launch in 2010, not so much that he's going to run it out of Scotland. I mean, he was likely to have at least one launch point in the UK if it was technically feasable, and it was never likely to be Heathrow. ;-)
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
Never underestimate the repulsive power of the Scottish and their hagis.
rewriting history since 2109
I've been to good ol' Lossie. I think it's perfect! Takeoffs would occur over the bay which opens up to the North Sea. Lossiemouth itself isn't hugely populated but it does lie next door to the base. There is a housing estate right up to the fence on one side (with the local pub about 1 mile from the main entrance), all other sides are clear and the nearest large town is Elgin about 10 miles away.
As long as they are careful to take off and land over the water I can't see many problems at all.
Think of the poor haggis! The shock of a rocket launching could tip them over and they'll roll down the hills, killing thousands! This injustice cannot be allowed to happen!
If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
That's funny. I'm sure I remember writing http://skymania.blogspot.com/2006/06/hoots-mon-we- have-problem.htmlthis story way back on June 9.
Or did. Nearly. Actually, I grew up in Buckie, which on a clear day, you can see Lossiemouth over the other end of the Spey Bay.
Try something much much closer to a big centre of population (eg S.E England) and add the need for a humungously long runway and close to the sea and you get Manston in Kent.
It will be 50mins from St Pancras by Train so getting passengers to the ground station will be easy. IT will be less that 2hrs from Paris by train via the channel tunnel so it makes an ideal gateway
Manston has a very long runway and is used as a diversion airport for emergencies with 747 type of aircraft.
My guess is that Richard "Woolly Pulley" Branson has studied the economics very closely and he needs to make money in the medium term. There might be some early flights from Lossiemouth but it is just too far from his target market for long term use. I have to admin that landing at Lossie in the back seat of an F4 was very exciting especially in zero visibility. Looking out at the waves below almost made me sick!
But parroting the rubbish in the tabloids is not likely to result in favourable moderation.
It's neat to think that we will finally have real, internationally-based, private-citizen spacecraft in operation by 2010.
I wonder if NASA will have managed to get the shuttle launched again by then
Anyone seen Superman Returns? Sir Richard Branson has a cameo as one of the shuttle pilots. I almost didn't recognize him as the shots were brief, but my suspicions were confirmed by the credits.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I think Richard Branson is an inspiration to all. But, and you knew there was a 'but', this venture is taking a very long time. Some of you may think 8 years is a reasonable amount of time to go from winning the X-Prize to offering rides to paying customers, but compare this to every other Virgin branded venture. Branson is renouned for entering existing markets quickly and offering superior service. The Virgin interest in suborbital flights is more similar to Branson's ballooning exploits than it is to his business exploits. I just wish people weren't resting on their laurels waiting for Branson.
How we know is more important than what we know.