White KnightTwo Rollout

[AeroSpace News]

The carrier aircraft at the center of Virgin Galactic's plans, White KnightTwo, is apparently rolling out Monday, July 28, 2008, from the Scaled Composites' factory in Mojave, California.

White Knight Two is the atmospheric "first stage" that lifts SpaceShipTwo up to 50,000 feet before releasing the smaller sub-orbital spacecraft for its journey into micro gravity at the edge of space.

One published report claims that the wingspan of White Knight Two is the same as a Boeing B-29 bomber - which would be an interesting coincidence, if indeed it is both true and a coincidence, since the Bell X-1 and other programs similar to the White Knight Two / SpaceShipTwo system were carried aloft by the B-29 Superfortress.

Good luck to all involved!