On February 19 Virgin Galactic debuted their newest SpaceShip2, named Unity, to a hangar filled with Future Astronauts, partners in the project and members of the media.
Senior officials from The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic spoke poignantly about their accident in October 2014, the lessons learned and their determination to carry on.
Stephen Hawking, the preeminent theoretical physicist, has been offered a ride on SpaceShipTwo Unity by Richard Branson. Hawking named the new vehicle and provided an audio clip introducing her.
With the music pumping, the curtains were drawn back to reveal Richard Branson sitting atop a Land Rover pulling Unity. Branson waved to the crowd as the rollout proceeded into the hangar in front of the carrier aircraft WhiteKnight2.
Branson addressed the crowd which was followed by the singing of happy birthday to Branson’s one-year-old granddaughter and then with a milk bottle, Unity was christened.
JASC designed and manufactured several valves for the oxidizer management system aboard SpaceShipTwo Unity. This array of valves provide various functions, including controlling the flow of oxidizer to the engine, loading and unloading the oxidizer to and from the onboard tanks and preventing over-pressurization of the oxidizer system.
JASC looks forward to supporting Virgin Galactic’s needs on many future flights. Located in Tempe, AZ, JASC is an engineering solutions provider for the aerospace, space, and gas turbine industries.