Which airliner might go into space?

Answer 1

Virgin's Galactic will go into space in the next few years

Answer 2

None. Airliners require air to fly, both for the wings and the jet engines.

That said, some time ago there was a proposal to fit a rocket to the rear of a 747 as a 'first stage' for launching satellites. The 747 would have flown to the launch area using its jet engines while carrying a second stage underneath, then fire the rocket to put it onto a parabolic trajectory well above the normal operating altitude. Near the peak of the trajectory it would have dropped the second stage, which would have continued on to orbit while the 747 returned to land using its jet engines again.

Answer 3

The new shuttle craft ?but virgin will beat NASA to it with star one airliner, which he has heavily invested in. its a piggy back craft taken so far up with white knight aircraft (not a rocket ) and released, it can land on its own and is not a glider , and has its own power and can fly from the ground, but uses too much fuel to do the whole thing, hence the piggy back arrangement

Answer 4

Airplanes require the existence of air under their wings to create lift - thus allowing them to fly.

"Large passenger planes can't fly much higher than about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles). The air is too thin above that altitude to hold the plane up. Some kinds of planes can fly much higher, and one special NASA plane, named Helios, flew to about 30 kilometers (19 miles), which is far higher than any other plane has traveled. At that altitude, the air is 100 times thinner than at sea level. The air gets thinner and thinner the higher you go, until there's hardly any air at all. In other words, it's nearly a vacuum up there.

Even the lowest Earth-orbiting spacecraft orbit at around 200 kilometers (125 miles) above Earth's surface, far above the thick air we are accustomed to and much higher than any plane can reach. "

Answer 5

unlikely in near future

Answer 6

virgin airlines

Answer 7

Virgin Galactic

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

Answer 8

virgin

Answer 9

virgin