The 'DNA of Flight' is synonymous with our brand, but what does it mean? It's a representation of humanity's journey to space through key aviation milestones. Each symbol represents a pivotal moment in the collective journey to creating the world's first commercial spaceline
From top to bottom the symbols are; Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. This is a reusable, winged spacecraft designed to carry eight people (including two pilots) into space and back safely.
SpaceShipOne. The first nongovernmental crewed spacecraft to fly into space. Manufactured by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, a joint venture of Scaled Composites — a firm led by aerospace designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Apollo Lunar Module. This was used for the descent to the lunar surface and served as a base while the astronauts were on the moon. It remains the only crewed vehicle to land anywhere beyond Earth.
Boeing 747. This airplane represents the beginning of the boom of commercial aviation.
Bell X-1 The first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound. Piloted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, the X-1 reached a speed of Mach 1.06. Yeager named the airplane "Glamorous Glennis" in tribute to his wife.
The Spirit of St. Louis. A custom-built, single-engine, single seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York to Paris, France in 1927.
The Wright Flyer. The first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft. It was designed and built by the Wright Brothers.
The first symbol on our DNA of flight is of Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus, and his father, Daedalus, completed humanity's first flight. This symbol represents humanity’s dream of flight.
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Thread: our CEO, Michael Colglazier, on today’s flight test. Today’s flight landed beautifully, with pilots, planes, and spaceship safe, secure, and in excellent shape — the foundation of every successful mission! Our flight today did not reach space as we had been planning.
After being released from its mothership, SpaceShipTwo Unity’s onboard computer that monitors the rocket motor lost connection. As designed, this triggered a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor.
Following this occurrence, our pilots flew back to Spaceport America and landed gracefully as usual.
When I became CEO, I was briefed on the safety engineering of our Spaceflight System, which is purposely designed to enable our pilots to safely glide back at any point.
SpaceShipTwo Unity and the crew are on target to attempt our first rocket-powered flight from Spaceport America, New Mexico today. The weather looks good and we’re targeting an 08:00amMT take-off. Stay tuned for live updates.
We will be providing live updates on today's flight via Twitter. This flight will not be live streamed - we’re saving that moment for a special flight in the future. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see the footage after flight. virg.in/TjE
All press will be sent media assets shortly after the flight, including images and b-roll footage from the flight. You will be able to download them, here virg.in/Gp7
Designed and built several prototype patient oxygen hoods, which allow oxygen-rich pressure to support those admitted with COVID-19 - opening up the alveoli in the lungs, and helping to delay or prevent Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) from developing.
Designed and built two designs for protective enclosures to reduce risk for health workers during intubation procedures, as well as a design for an antechamber for those workers to don and doff protective clothing.