![]() ![]() During this time, SS2 will be at its highest point - about 360,000 feet (109,728 m) - and the crew and passengers will experience weightlessness. After the engine is shut off, the wings will be feathered in preparation for re-entry (see previous page). When the SS2 pilots ignite the hybrid rocket motor, SS2 will accelerate vertically to Mach 3 in about 90 seconds (the crew and passengers will experience 3 to 4 Gs during this time) and climb to more than 300,000 feet (91,440 meters). When it gets to an altitude of 50,000 feet, it will release SS2. WK2 will take off from the ground like any jet aircraft - but with SS2 attached to the underside. The flights will be somewhat like the early Mercury flights of Alan Shepard and Virgil I. The spacecraft won't fly fast enough to go into low Earth orbit as the space shuttle does (meaning it won't travel around the globe). A suborbital flight has a parabolic flight path - like the shape that's made when you throw a rock into the air and it falls back down. The flight plan for Virgin Galactic's WK2/SS2 flights calls for a suborbital flight. This technique reduces the g-forces and heat buildup of re-entry. The feathered position produces drag, slows the spacecraft and allows it to gently fall back through the upper parts of the Earth's atmosphere like a badminton shuttlecock. Feathering places the wings in an upward position for re-entry.
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