VSS Enterprise
The VSS Enterprise (Tail Number: N339SS) is the first of five commercial suborbital spacecraft being constructed for Virgin Galactic by Scaled Composites. It will also be the first ship of the Model 339 SpaceShipTwo class, based on upscaling the design of record-breaking SpaceShipOne. The VSS Enterprise's name is an acknowledgement of the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek television series. Entrepreneur Richard Branson, head of Virgin Galactic, offered William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, a free ride into space on the inaugural space launch of the VSS Enterprise, with a retail value of $200,000. However, Shatner turned it down, and said, "I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back." It was rolled out on December 7, 2009.
Read more about VSS Enterprise: Flight Test Program, Future, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word enterprise:
“Now I know that much of parenthood is watching and waiting for the chick to fall into harm’s way, watching and waiting for the cats and the cold nights. The joyous enterprise has an undercurrent of terror.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)