After numerous delays, Virgin Galactic has finally achieved the milestone of touching space with its founder Sir Richard Branson aboard, in addition to a crew consisting of employees Beth Moses, Colin Bennett, and Sirisha Bandla and pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci.
The event saw the company’s SpaceShipTwo release from its mothership – called WhiteKnightTwo – and climbed to an altitude of 53.4 miles, slightly below the 62-mile demarcation of where the atmosphere ends and space begins.
On reaching its maximum altitude, SpaceShipTwo turned over – enabling its passengers to experience weightlessness and leverage the view of Earth afforded by its multiple windows.
During the trip, Branson recorded a message, saying “To all you kids out there — I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. Now I’m an adult in a spaceship…If we can do this, just imagine what you can do”.
"To all you kids down there…" – @RichardBranson's message from zero gravity. #Unity22
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 11, 2021
Watch the livestream: https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb pic.twitter.com/lYXHNsDQcU
The event is significant, as it is the penultimate test flight of the SpaceShipTwo endeavour before commercial applications to tour space begin under Virgin Galactic. The milestone also takes place just two days before Blue Origin’s first manned mission.
Branson has announced that sweepstakes will soon offer up two free tickets for a ride aboard SpaceShipTwo, which will offer paid tourism experiences for those with wallets that can handle north of $200,000 USD.
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