Virgin Galactic
A jubilant Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson celebrated the ‘experience of a lifetime’ as one of six people aboard what was officially the first commercial passenger flight to the edge of space Sunday morning 11 July.
“Space is Virgin territory” said one of several commentators on the live video feed as the spacecraft reached about 85 kilometres in altitude and performed its ‘feather’ manoeuvre, rolling inverted to maximise the view of the earth below for the occupants.
After about 3.5 minutes of weightlessness, in which Branson and his fellow passengers unstrapped to float freely in the spacious cabin, the spacecraft headed home. The space plane descended through the atmosphere before gliding to a centreline landing on Runway 34 at Virgin’s New Mexico spaceport. A recovery crew met the vehicle on the runway and opened a small hatch near the front of Unity 22. Duration of the flight from release from the Mothership Eve carrier aircraft was a little more than 15 minutes.
There will undoubtedly be some debate over whether Branson actually reached space. The spacecraft reached an apogee of 53.7 miles, technically more than eight miles short of the so-called Karman Line of 62 miles that is the internationally recognised point where space begins. However, the US defines the edge of space as 50 miles or 262,000 feet.
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity successfully reached space, completing the Company’s fourth rocket-powered spaceflight.
With several in-flight streaming problems, some overt and clumsy celebrity posturing and an over-reliance on gushing hero worship of VG boss Branson; the fully crewed ‘test’ flight came off well before previously postulated schedules thought it might occur. Thankfully, despite the rush seemingly created when Blue Origin announced their flight schedule, all seemed to go well.
The weather-delayed flight was the 22nd test flight of VSS Unity and the first test flight with a full crew in the cabin, including the Company’s founder, Sir Richard Branson. The crew fulfilled several test objectives related to the cabin and customer experience, including evaluating the commercial customer cabin, the views of Earth from space, the conditions for conducting research and the effectiveness of the five-day pre-flight training programme at Spaceport America.
Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic, said: “Today is a landmark achievement for the Company and a historic moment for the new commercial space industry. With each successful mission we are paving the way for the next generation of astronauts. I want to thank our talented team, including our pilots and crew, whose dedication and commitment made today possible. They are helping open the door for greater access to space, so it can be for the many and not just for the few.” VSS Unity achieved a speed of Mach 3 after being released from the mothership, VMS Eve. The vehicle reached space, at an altitude of 53.5 miles, before gliding smoothly to a runway landing at Spaceport America.
This seminal moment for Virgin Galactic and Sir Richard Branson was witnessed by audiences around the world. It gave a glimpse of the journey Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronauts can expect when the Company launches commercial service following the completion of its test flight programme. Sir Richard Branson said: “I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but nothing could have prepared me for the view of Earth from space.
We are at the vanguard of a new space age. As Virgin’s founder, I was honoured to test the incredible customer experience as part of this remarkable crew of mission specialists and now astronauts. I cannot wait to share this experience with aspiring astronauts around the world.” The mission specialists in the cabin were Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor; Colin Bennett, Lead Flight Operations Engineer; Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations and Branson. The under sung VSS Unity pilots were Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, whilst Kelly Latimer and CJ Sturckow piloted VMS Eve.