Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Virgin Spaceship Unity is unveiled in Mojave, California, Friday February 19th, 2016. VSS Unity is the first vehicle to be manufactured by The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic’s wholly owned manufacturing arm, and is the second vehicle of its design ever constructed. VSS Unity was unveiled in FAITH (Final Assembly Integration Test Hangar), the Mojave-based home of manufacturing and testing for Virgin Galactic’s human space flight program.
Credit: Mark Greenberg/Virgin Galactic

MOJAVE, California – The February 19th rollout of the new VSS Unity here proved to be a grand event, a morale booster for The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic that’s backed by founder and entrepreneur, Richard Branson.

Following the Oct. 31, 2014 mishap of SpaceShipTwo breaking up over the Mojave desert here and killing one of its two-person, test piloting crew, a new SpaceShipTwo was premiered, unveiled here at the Final Assembly Integration Test Hangar (FAITH).

It is the first suborbital vehicle to be manufactured by The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic’s wholly owned manufacturing arm.

Richard Branson during rollout ceremonies for new SpaceShipTwo.
Credit: Leonard David

Teamwork

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said, “Together, we can make space accessible in a way that has only been dreamt of before now, and by doing so can bring positive change to life on Earth. Our beautiful new spaceship, VSS Unity, is the embodiment of that goal and will provide us with an unprecedented body of experience which will in turn lay the foundations for Virgin Galactic’s future. Her creation is also great testament to what can be achieved when true teamwork, great skill and deep pride are combined with a common purpose.”

Actor and Pilot Harrison Ford listens to Virgin Galactic chief pilot Dave Mackay inside the new SS2.
Credit: Mark Greenberg/Virgin Galactic

Everyday explorers

Virgin Galactic CEO George T. Whitesides said, “We seek to open space to people from all walks of life, and today’s milestone is big step toward that goal. Outer space is the province of all humanity, and we think it is about time that all of humanity has a chance to explore it: not just pilots but also painters, not just engineers but also everyday explorers.”

Ready to start testing

The Spaceship Company President Doug Shane said, “Today is the final step of years of manufacturing and extensive testing on every subsystem and component that makes up the spaceship. Today is also the first day of a brand new spaceship that is ready to start testing as an integrated vehicle. I’m most proud of the fact that we have built a talented manufacturing and testing team with an end-to-end capability for vehicle design. We look forward to fulfilling our aim as The Spaceship Company with vehicles of the future for Virgin Galactic and the rest of the industry.”

Quite the day of enjoying the unveiling of VSS Unity, Leonard & Barbara David.
Credit: Robert Pearlman/collectSPACE