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New York, 9:24 AM
Mon Nov 23
14 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #virgingalactic more →

    First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior

    First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday

    Virgin Galactic Rocket Blasts Off for the First Time

    Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap

    Video: Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo in Action

    Sweden's Ice Hotel Charging $200,000 for Space Trips in 2012

    British Government to Launch Satellites Into Orbit on the Back of Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo

    Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo Flies For the First Time

    Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America Gets FAA Green Light

    Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo Performing Runway Tests
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of sinerasis sinerasis
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    What's up with the hand mirror?
     Reply
    Barry99705 promoted this comment sinerasis was starred sinerasis was unstarred
    Image of Barry99705 Barry99705
    07/29/09

    @sinerasis: So they can see the wings in flight.
     Reply
    Barry99705 was starred Barry99705 was unstarred
    Image of strider_mt2k strider_mt2k
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    Go Team Scaled Composites!
     Reply
    strider_mt2k was starred strider_mt2k was unstarred
    Image of DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star.
    07/29/09

    @strider_mt2k: Hey! they've got an asteroids machine in the lobby! And they've got a lobby!
     Reply
    DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was starred DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was unstarred
    Image of SinisterBill SinisterBill
    07/29/09

    @strider_mt2k: Now all you need is a Swedish murder machine to fly the thing for you.
     Reply
    SinisterBill promoted this comment SinisterBill was starred SinisterBill was unstarred
    Image of Homerjay is utterly alone. Homerjay is utterly alone.
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    I wonder which one of those switches engages "Otto."
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. was starred Homerjay is utterly alone. was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09


    @Homerjay. Good and good for you.:.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of CircuitMage CircuitMage
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    What's that white, stick-on counter in pic2? Looks like the toll meter in a taxi cab.
     Reply
    bosskev promoted this comment CircuitMage was starred CircuitMage was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09

    @CircuitMage: That's what it is. If you want to take a space walk, it's an extra charge and they have to keep the meter running.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Nikkoli Nikkoli
    07/29/09

    @CircuitMage:
    its a simple timer from radio shack. Commonly used by model airplane pilots to track their time in flight.

    Apparently they have a very low budget?
     Reply
    bosskev promoted this comment Nikkoli was starred Nikkoli was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09

    @Nikkoli: Actually, I think you are right. They probably got a package deal on the timer and a hundred toggle switches.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Geisrud Geisrud
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    I don't see a single cup holder.

    /sorely dissapointed
     Reply
    Geisrud was starred Geisrud was unstarred
    Image of N@tedog N@tedog
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    There isn't even a door?!? It's like they're just inviting the first space terrorists aboard.
     Reply
    N@tedog was starred N@tedog was unstarred
    Image of Yuri Dambyotch Yuri Dambyotch
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    Is that a Tom-Tom just to the right of the left-hand yoke?
     Reply
    Yuri Dambyotch was starred Yuri Dambyotch was unstarred
    Image of Ultraorange Ultraorange
    07/29/09

    @3Djesus: Forget that why do they need a personal mirror ceiling on the right, and it's like the super cheap one from a drug store
     Reply
    EBone promoted this comment Ultraorange was starred Ultraorange was unstarred
    Image of HerbertGaloolie HerbertGaloolie
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    Is that a vanity mirror on the top right?
     Reply
    EBone approved this comment HerbertGaloolie was starred HerbertGaloolie was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    07/29/09

    @HerbertGaloolie: I guess it's to look out the window to see if the orbiter is still attached...
     Reply
    EBone promoted this comment EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    07/29/09

    @HerbertGaloolie: It's to deflect enemy laser beam attacks.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star.
    07/29/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: Our shaving mirrors can't deflect blasts of that magnitude!
     Reply
    DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was starred DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    Toggle switches? Are you kidding me? You want to blast me into space in a contraption controlled by 89¢ Radio Shack toggle switches?

    Please. At least have the decency to camouflage them with a series of colorful, randomly blinking diodes.
     Reply
    Edited by bosskev at 07/29/09 2:12 PM bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of AEchinoderm AEchinoderm
    07/29/09

    @bosskev: Oh, no those aren't 89¢ Radio Shack switches. They are $27.50 Aeronautical grade toggle switches. Much higher quality: titanium stems, gold-plated contacts, the works. Maybe Virgin Galactic couldn't afford Military-grade switches, but those will do.
     Reply
    bosskev promoted this comment AEchinoderm was starred AEchinoderm was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09

    @AEchinoderm: And the difference between Aeronautical-grade toggles and Military-grade toggles would be moving the price's decimal point two places to the right?
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of met2art met2art
    07/29/09

    @bosskev: All kidding (and sarcastic snarking) aside, toggle switches have more resilience to flight stress and provide definitive tactile response. They are also less likely to be accidently "momentarily" actuated as a short-throw button, and can used with or without gloves with less chance of causing a problem. Furthermore, with a single glance the flight crew can instantly determine the status of a given switch without the need for a additional power-draining hardware. The pole sin the toggle switch also provide a hard-contact power connection which is less likely to arc or decay in the event of loss of pressurization or atmospheric contaminants (such as corrosive gases released from potential onboard fire).

    While it may not look sexy, there's a damn good reason why certain hardware remains in use: reliability, safety and simplicity.

    Sadly, most people simply think it's "outdated" tech that isn't as good, while the opposite is actually true. Glass touchscreens and flush-mount "momentary" buttons would be extremely detrimental, highly counter-productive, energy intensive and exceedingly dangerous.

    I'm amazed by the amount of armchair-aeronautical engineers who think they could do better, and I wonder why they didn't claim the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Things to ponder.
     Reply
    bosskev promoted this comment met2art was starred met2art was unstarred
    Image of OMG! Ponies! OMG! Ponies!
    07/29/09

    @bosskev: Would you prefer capacitive touchscreens?
     Reply
    OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    07/29/09

    @OMG! Ponies!: You mean, like an iPhone? Maybe. But with my luck, I'd be in mid-flight when the app that controls everything would be unapproved and yanked.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Barry99705 Barry99705
    07/29/09

    @AEchinoderm: They use the same parts.
     Reply
    Barry99705 was starred Barry99705 was unstarred
    Image of jepzilla jepzilla
    07/29/09

    In reply to First Pictures of Virgin Galactic WhiteKnightTwo Interior
    Wow, that's a much more complex cockpit than SS1. If you don't remember, SS1's cockpit was basically a joystick and a single LCD multifunction display.
     Reply
    Barry99705 promoted this comment jepzilla was starred jepzilla was unstarred
    Image of Barry99705 Barry99705
    07/29/09

    @jepzilla: That's because this does more than space ship one. It also holds more people.
     Reply
    Barry99705 was starred Barry99705 was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    06/17/09

    In reply to First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday
    It looks like Far Point......
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of admoseremic admoseremic
    06/17/09

    In reply to First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday
    I think NASA's launch sites more fully qualify for this title.
     Reply
    admoseremic was starred admoseremic was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    06/17/09

    @admoseremic: Nah, NASA has Launch Facilities. A Spaceport denotes consumer travel.


    Geez I should have been in marketing with the bullshit I can come up with.

     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    06/17/09

    @admoseremic: Hmm. I guess that's right in a way. I was thinking of a "port" to encompass both an entrance and an exit, i.e. it is able to receive and launch vessels. As far as I know, NASA only has launch sites, and uses airports to land the space shuttles (or lets rocket capsules parachute into the ocean). But again, it really depends on definition.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    06/17/09

    In reply to First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday
    So how long will it be before the first space sherry?


    Wow, the bad jokes keep coming today...

     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of laffmakr laffmakr
    06/17/09

    In reply to First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday
    What?! No Starbucks yet?!
     Reply
    laffmakr was starred laffmakr was unstarred
    Image of badhatharry badhatharry
    06/17/09

    @laffmakr: It's there, but this one is actually run by Starbuck. And it does not accept Starbucks cards.
     Reply
    badhatharry was starred badhatharry was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    06/17/09

    In reply to First Spaceport Ever Begins Construction this Friday
    "First spaceport ever..."


    On Earth, that is.

     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
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