springer.com Engineering : Aerospace Technology and Astronautics Seedhouse, Erik Virgin Galactic The First Ten Years Serves as a go-to book and reference guide for suborbital space tourists, space scientists and those who want to know how one maverick company pulled off one of the most remarkable achievements in manned spaceflight Describes the medical and training requirements for those flying on board, the critical roles of the astronaut trainers (of whom the author is one), and the new breed of commercial space pilots Provides an insight into the companies supporting Virgin Galactic, including space training agencies such as NASTAR and rocket companies such as Sierra Nevada Thirty years ago when Sir Richard Branson called up Boeing and asked if they had a spare Springer 747, few would have predicted the brash entrepreneur would so radically transform the placid 2015, XIX, 203 p. 85 illus., business of air travel. But today, Branson flies airlines on six continents, employs hundreds of 1st 76 illus. in color. edition jets and, in 2014, was predicting that his spaceship company – Virgin Galactic – would soon open the space frontier to commercial astronauts, payload specialists, scientists and space tourists. With more than 600 seats sold at $250,000 each, what started off as a dream to send people just for the excitement to look back and marvel at Earth, was on the cusp of Printed book finally being turned into a business. Then, on October 21, 2014, tragedy struck. Softcover SpaceShipTwo was on its most ambitious test flight to date. Seconds after firing its engine, Printed book Virgin Galactic’s spaceship was breaking through the sound barrier. In just the three seconds Softcover that it took for the vehicle to climb from Mach 0.94 to Mach 1.02, co-pilot Mike Alsbury made ISBN 978-3-319-09261-4 what many close to the event believe was a fatal mistake that led to his death and the £ 32,99 | CHF 45,00 | 37,99 € | disintegration of SpaceShipTwo. Miraculously, the pilot, Peter Siebold, survived the 16-km fall 41,79 € (A) | 40,65 € (D) back to Earth. Soon after the event Branson vowed to continue his space tourism venture in spite of this. Already a second SpaceShipTwo is being built, and ticket-holders eagerly await the Available day when Virgin Galactic offers quick, routine and affordable access to the edge of space. Discount group Standard (0) Order online at springer.com/booksellers Product category Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH Popular science Customer Service Series Tiergartenstrasse 15-17 Space Exploration 69121 Heidelberg Germany Other renditions T: +49 (0)6221 345-4301 Softcover [email protected] ISBN 978-3-319-09263-8 Prices and other details are subject to change without notice. All errors and omissions excepted. Americas: Tax will be added where applicable. Canadian residents please add PST, QST or GST. Please add $5.00 for shipping one book and $ 1.00 for each additional book. Outside the US and Canada add $ 10.00 for first book, $5.00 for each additional book. If an order cannot be fulfilled within 90 days, payment will be refunded upon request. Prices are payable in US currency or its equivalent. ISBN 978-3-319-09261-4 / BIC: TRP / SPRINGER NATURE: SCT17050 Part of .