SpaceShipTwo Debuts At Farnborough

The Farnborough air show has seen plenty of “firsts” over the decades, but the appearance this year of the first passenger-carrying suborbital commercial spacecraft takes this prestigious event into new territory. The show debut of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2), albeit in full-scale replica form, follows a tradition of inaugurals ranging from the 1949 display of the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet 1, to the initial international appearance of the largely composite-built Boeing 787 in 2010. Although the Farnborough show is not best known for its space-related coverage, the display of the SS2 mock-up follows the 2010 establishment of a special Space Zone exhibit which organizers say will be doubled in area this year ...