Billionaire entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson's dream of space travel was realized and celestial tourism took a leap forward Sunday as Virgin Galactic's rocket ship reached the edge of space during a historic flight from Spaceport America.
Branson and his crew experienced about four minutes of weightlessness before their space plane smoothly glided to a runway landing. The entire trip, delayed Ninety minutes because of bad weather the previous night, lasted about an hour. Seventeen years of hard work to get us this far, Branson said as he congratulated his team on the trip back.
Branson, who turns 71 this
week, and a crew of two pilots and three mission
specialists were carried to an altitude of more than eight miles by
the aircraft VMS Eve, named after Branson's mother. Live video then showed the space plane VSS Unity release
from the mother ship's twin fuselages, using rocket power to
fly to the boundary of space, more than fifty miles above the Earth.
Richard Branson is set to launch into space this weekend.
Virgin Galactic and founder Branson had planned the
flight for later this summer but moved it up after competitor Blue
Origin and its founder, Jeff Bezos, announced plans to ride their rocket
into space from West Texas on 20July 2021.
Blue Origin, which in recent days has launched a social
media campaign disparaging of Virgin Galactic, softened its tone in the hours
before the flight,
In keeping with Branson's reputation as a showman, The
Late Show's Stephen Colbert was hosting Virgin Galactic's livestream of
the event. R&B singer-songwriter Khalid was scheduled to perform his
new song "New Normal" on stage after Branson and his entourage
return to Earth.
Virgin Galactic has plans for two more test flights
before commercial service is expected to begin in 2022. The company says more
than 600 people already have signed up for flights at an estimated
$250,000 per person.
My mission statement is to turn the dream of space travel into a reality – for my grandchildren, for your grandchildren, for everyone," Branson tweeted as he prepared for the flight. Blue Origin has not begun to sell tickets but has dismissed Virgin Galactic's flight plans as failing to actually reach space.
"Only 4% of the world recognizes a lower limit of 80
km or 50 miles as the beginning of space," Blue Origin tweeted Friday.
"New Shepard flies above both boundaries. One of the many benefits of
flying with Blue Origin."
Blue Origin launches capsules atop reusable booster rockets, while Virgin Galactic uses an aircraft to get its rocket ship aloft. Blue Origin intends to send tourists past the so-called Karman line 62 miles above Earth, which is is recognized by international aviation and aerospace federations as the threshold of space.
NASA, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration
and some astrophysicists consider the boundary between the atmosphere and space
to begin 50 miles up. Thus passengers on Virgin Galactic trips, which can reach
a maximum altitude of about 55 miles, earn astronaut wings.
Virgin Galactic's efforts have come at a price. An earlier version of VSS Unity, the VSS Enterprise, broke apart during a 2014 test flight. One pilot died and another was injured. Virgin Galactic reached space for the first time in 2018. Successful flights were also recorded in 2019 and most recently in May. The company gained permission from the Federal Aviation Administration last month to start launching customers.
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