Sat, Dec 12, 2009
Winds Gusts On The Mojave Desert Topped 116 MPH
Leave it to Sir Richard Branson to quip "We were fully
expecting to be blown away by our beautiful new spaceship but got a
little more than we bargained for!"
Photo Credit Mischa Varmuza
At the start of a dramatic week of weather all across the U.S.,
hurricane force winds hit Mojave Air and Spaceport CA Monday night,
tearing apart a specially created site which had been used
throughout the day to house guests attending the first roll out of
Virgin Galactic's new spaceship.
Along with Sir Richard Branson and spaceship designer Burt
Rutan, over 800 press, future astronauts and VIP guests including
Governors Bill Richardson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princesses
Beatrice and Eugenie and Victoria Principal had gathered in the
desert to witness the roll out of the world's first commercial
manned spaceship. Standing at the end of the runway, guests braved
gale force winds and stormy weather, to see SpaceShipTwo for the
first time. The spaceship was carried down the runway as snow fell,
by her mothership, VMS Eve, to a spectacular display of lights and
music.
Photo Credit Mischa Varmuza
A few hours later as guests celebrated, an evacuation was called
by local officials who had become aware of the approaching storm.
Sir Richard Branson said: "It was absolutely incredible, the roll
out of the spaceship had been fantastic and everybody was filled
with terrific energy. We were all in the tents when the evacuation
was called. 20 minutes after the last of the 800 guests had been
coached away, the main 200ft tent literally took off". Gusts were
reported of up to 116 mph, and local residents commented that the
Mojave area had not experienced such a combination of high winds,
rain and freezing temperatures for over two decades. Both spaceship
and mothership were unscathed thanks to the rapid action of the
crew as were all guests thanks to an efficient evacuation to
waiting buses.
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