Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity Spaceship Makes 1st Solo Glide Flight

Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo performed its first free flight Dec. 3, a glide test that begins the next phase in testing of the commercial suborbital spaceplane. SpaceShipTwo, named VSS Unity, and its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at about 9:50 a.m. EST (1450 GMT). The spaceplane separated from WhiteKnightTwo at 10:40 a.m. EST (1540 GMT), gliding back to a runway landing in Mojave 10 minutes later, according to updates provide