Sir Richard Branson's dream of commercial space flight took one step (for mankind) closer to reality today as Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo carrier craft was unveiled.To some it may just look like two regular jets with a birth defect but take a closer look and you'll see that there are two engines on one side of each craft. This is to accomodate SpaceShipTwo, the actual craft that takes the rich people into space (ticket prices will be around $200K a piece). Kind of how the old space shuttles would sometimes piggy-back on a passenger jet.
With a 140-foot wingspan (42.6 meters), it's now the largest all carbon-composite aircraft ever made. The new craft is named Eve after Richard Branson's mother (Mrs. Branson). More pics and a write-up over at Engadget.
