Virgin Galactic fires up

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity is seen here firing up its rocket motor above the Mojave Desert. Unity is taken aloft from Virgin’s New Mexico spaceport by a unique double-hulled aircraft and ignites its rocket after separating from the mothership. This is designed to take the spaceship and its cargo of tourists it to the edge of space before a unique feathering system is deployed to bring them back to Earth. The system involves raising the ship’s unique tail booms to a 60-degree angle during the initial descent and then returning them to the normal position so it can glide to the ground.