Stratolaunch: Big Bird times two

Fly me to the moon!   (Fair Use)

If looking at the Stratolaunch makes you feel like you’re seeing double, perhaps it’s because you are.

In this “world’s largest airplane,” there are twin cabins with three Boeing 747 engines apiece. The cabins are linked by a shared 385-foot wingspan.

This technological Big Bird is “designed to release rockets that will carry satellites into space.”  The “baby” of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, Stratolaunch is 50 feet tall and can hoist over half-a-million pounds.

After taking off from a conventional runway, this mega-plane will rise to the cruising altitude of most commercial airlines.  Once there, it will propel “vehicle rockets into orbit.”  Stratolaunch will then “fly back to a runway landing for reloading, refueling and reuse.”

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/worlds-largest-airplane-is-rolled-out/ar-BBBKDon?OCID=ansmsnnews11 

Copyright June 4, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved