This rendering shows SpaceShipTwo with its tail section in the feathered re-entry position. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
With the shuttle program retired, NASA is turning to Virgin Galactic to hitch rides to the edge of space.
Richard Branson’s private venture, which aims to be the first commercial space carrier, said it has signed a deal to give the agency up to three charter flights on SpaceShipTwo. The contract could be worth as much as $4.5 million.
The space plane, whose assembly hangar at the Mojave Air and Space Port was unveiled last month, will carry at least one science mission with a flight test engineer to monitor experiments. via cnet
