Richard Branson: Virgin Galactic Completes First Crewed Space Flight
“We are at the vanguard of a new space age” – Richard Branson
Billionaires have been competing to be the first ones in space lately. And the efforts of Virgin Galactic to take the crew to space have specifically been notable. On Sunday morning, Virgin Galactic successfully took off with the Unity 22 test flight with Richard Branson on board.
The flight took the crew 80467.2 meters above the Earth’s surface. Piloted by Michael Masucci and Dave Mackay, the VSS Unity housed the billionaire Richard Branson along with other crew members including Beth Moses, Sirisha Bandla, and Colin Bennet.
Along with them, the VMS Eve was piloted by CJ Sturckow and Kelly Latimer which took to the Unity to a height of 15240 meters.
For about four minutes, the crew along with Richard Branson experienced weightlessness during the flight. This was not the first test flight that Virgin Galactic has conducted. However, it was certainly the first test flight with a full crew.
Richard Branson
I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but going to space was more magical than I ever imagined https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/grs7vHAzca
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
Regarding this thrilling experience, Richard Branson stated, “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.” He further added, “I can’t wait to share this experience with aspiring astronauts around the world.”
One thing to note here is that the definition of “space” might vary. This has resulted in some friction between the Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic by Richard Branson. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is ready to make a similar flight later in July.
Virgin Galactic manage to reach a height that the US government and NASA consider outer space. However, the Kármán line is situated a little further away which Jeff Bezos is aiming to cross with Blue Origins.
So, Jeff Bezos might not become the first billionaire in space. But he could certainly become the first billionaire to reach the Kármán line. For those who are curious, Virgin Galactic has a Livestream of the entire mission on Youtube.
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