From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: sdlitvin@earthlink.net   
   Subject: Virgin Galactic's First Commercial Spaceship Named "V.S.S. Enterprise"   
      
   SpaceShipTwo Christened VSS Enterprise   
      
        * By Jason Paur Email Author   
        * December 7, 2009  |   
        * 11:11 pm   
      
   On a cold and windy night at the Mojave Air and Space Port, the VSS    
   Enterprise was unveiled to the public tonight. Attached to its mother    
   ship, the vehicle better known as SpaceShipTwo is expected to be the    
   first commercial spacecraft when it enters service with Virgin Galactic.   
      
   SpaceShipTwo was built by Scaled Composites under the guidance of    
   legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan. The carbon composite spacecraft    
   uses the same fuselage as its mother ship, VMS Eve. After a year of    
   rigorous testing VMS Eve completed flight testing earlier this fall.    
   Rutan didnAt specify when flight testing for SpaceShipTwo would begin,    
   though it is expected to start early next year.   
      
   Sub-orbital passenger flights could start as early as 2011 from Virgin    
   GalacticAs space port in New Mexico that is currently under    
   construction. Tickets for the early adopters are $200,000 for the three    
   day training program and the ride into space. Both Rutan and Virgin    
   Galactic founder, Sir Richard Branson have repeatedly said they expect    
   the prices to drop rapidly similar to many new technologies, including    
   the early days of air travel.   
      
   Once flight testing is complete, production will begin on a fleet space    
   craft like SpaceShipTwo in order to meet the expected demand for rides    
   into space. Rutan and Branson have partnered in a company simply known    
   as aThe Spaceship Company.A The joint venture will produce both the    
   WhiteKnightTwo mother ships and the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. Rutan says    
   he expects that 40-50 spaceships will be needed in order to satisfy the    
   market. BransonAs Virgin Galactic has the exclusive use of the launch    
   system for the first 18 months of operation.   
      
   Rutan said tonightAs unveiling is the culmination of many years of    
   thinking, designing and working on making space travel more accessible    
   to more people outside the ranks of government space programs.   
   oAll of us at Scaled are tremendously excited by the capabilities of    
   both the mothership and SS2. Today is the culmination of a dream that    
   began many decades ago, was stimulated by Paul AllenAs funding of our    
   X-Prize winning SS1 and then moved forward to commercial reality by Sir    
   Richard and VirginAs visionary investment in a new future for space    
   transportationo.   
      
   Branson said seeing SpaceShipTwo for the first time is very exciting and    
   he is now looking forward to the next steps towards commercial space    
   flights.   
      
   oThe unveil of SS2 takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level    
   and continues to provide tangible evidence that this ambitious project    
   is not only moving rapidly, but also making tremendous progress towards    
   our goal of safe commercial operation.o   
      
   http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/12/spaceshiptwo-christened-as-vss-enterprise/   
      
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