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SpaceShipTwo Sets a New Altitude Record

Posted by samzenpus on from the space-time dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo reached an altitude of 71,000 feet, beating out its previous record of 69,000 feet. From the article: 'This time around, Virgin Galactic and Mojave-based Scaled Composites, the plane's builder, tested a new reflective coating on the rocket plane's tail booms. The flight also marked the first tryout for a thruster system that's designed to keep the plane on course when it's above the atmosphere. Virgin Galactic said all of the test objectives were met.'"

4 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. New Altitude record? by rossdee · · Score: 4, Informative

    a mere 71,000 ft?
    Blackbirds flew hiher than that over 40 year ago

  2. For the rest of the world by Bazouel · · Score: 5, Informative

    71,000 feet = 21640.8 meters

    --
    Intelligence shared is intelligence squared.
    1. Re:For the rest of the world by excelsior_gr · · Score: 2, Informative

      Only that aircraft altitude is measured across the globe in feet, regardless of the unit system valid in each country.

  3. Re:Is it really worth it? by AC-x · · Score: 4, Informative

    Time spent in free-fall:

    Roller coaster: a second or two?
    Vomit Comet: 25 seconds
    SpaceShipTwo: 6 minutes