Virgin boldly goes into space
Virgin Galactic has successfully sent its test pilots into space, marking a milestone in the race for commercial space travel and prompting emotional scenes back on Earth.
Sir Richard Branson, watching with his son Sam, admitted he shed more than a few tears as the spacecraft flew to 82.72 kilometres (51.4 miles or 271,268ft).
Although the exact height of where space begins is debated, Nasa says it begins 80.4km above ground, and an official from the Federal Aviation Agency was on hand to welcome the two test pilots back to Earth, and invite them to Washington DC to receive their astronaut wings. The flight marks the first time that man has reached space from US soil since the end of the space shuttle programme in 2011.
‘‘This was the milestone that we’ve been aiming at for 14 years,’’ Sir Richard told The Daily Telegraph. ‘‘It was the culmination of a lot of work. And obviously it’s just a joyous day.’’
The team had gathered before dawn at the site, 160km north of Los Angeles in the Mojave desert. As the sun rose over the mountains, the final checks were carried out. Shortly after 7am, with CJ Sturckow, a four-time Nasa space shuttle pilot, and Mark ‘‘Forger’’ Stucky at the controls of the space ship VSS Unity, the mothership VMS Eve sped along the runway and into the skies.
For 13km, the two craft climbed, until after 45 minutes the VSS Unity was released.
VSS Unity accelerated rapidly then turned to shoot almost vertically into the sky, burning its rockets for 60 seconds and travelling at 2.9 times the speed of sound to reach its maximum height.
‘‘Welcome to space,’’ announced Enrico Palermo, president of The Spaceship Company, which Sir Richard founded as a sister company to Virgin Galactic, to build the craft. ‘‘We made it to space.’’
Cheers and whoops of joy burst out in the cold desert morning, with many of the engineers and team members in tears. The ship then began its descent as everyone craned their necks upwards, waiting for a glimpse of the spacecraft returning to Earth.
‘‘That was rather incredible,’’ said Stucky, the co-pilot, beaming. ‘‘We simulate so many emergencies, we’re always reacting, but to get up there and shut off the engine and just go: ‘OK, we’re going to space . . .’’’ He was particularly jubilant about a mid-air roll, which Sir Richard laughingly called a victory roll.
‘‘Everything worked great,’’ continued Stucky. He then pulled a box out of his pocket, containing a ring. Brandon Parrish, a Virgin Galactic employee, got on stage and called his girlfriend Veronica McGowan – also a colleague – to join him. On bended knee, with a beaming Sir Richard behind him, he asked her to marry him – the two test pilots then spraying champagne on the crowd as she said Yes.
‘‘Our test pilots are incredibly brave people,’’ said Sir Richard, who praised ‘‘the massive team that has created the spaceship to go into space, for myself and thousands of people like me’’.
Virgin Galactic is yet to set a date for its first commercial passengers, but it is expected to
‘‘The market for space travel is gigantic. The price will go up a little bit in the short term, and then in the next three years, it will come down. And the more spacecraft we build, the lower the price.’’ Sir Richard Branson
be some time next year. The team plan on three more test flights at the Mojave site, before moving down to New Mexico to base themselves at their spaceport there, where passengers will depart. More than 700 people have signed up so far, paying US$250,000 (NZ$364,000) for the privilege – among them Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber.
‘‘The market for space travel is gigantic,’’ Sir Richard said. ‘‘The price will go up a little bit in the short term, and then in the next three years, it will come down. And the more spacecraft we build, the lower the price.’’
The flight yesterday was the first one to generate revenue, as Nasa paid Virgin Galactic to carry payloads – scientific equipment to take data for their team.
He was hopeful that the success of this flight would encourage more investors.
‘‘Space is not cheap,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve personally invested a billion dollars in this. Having our first money come back is a good feeling. We have to make this a profitable venture, and I think we can do that.’’ – Telegraph Group