British billionaire Richard Branson has created history with his flight to the edge of space. He accomplished this feat aboard Virgin Galatic’s spaceplane. It’s not just Branson’s first trip to space, but also the first time the company has flown a full crew cabin.
The VSS Unity aircraft reached an altitude of just below 50,000 feet by the mothership VMS Eve before separating itself to reach the edge of space at 28,200 feet. After several minutes of enjoying weightlessness in space, the crew returned back to Earth and landed safely on runway three at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Branson pays tribute to his mother
“It’s the experience of a lifetime,” Branson said from the VSS Unity as it headed back. VMS Eve is named after Branson’s mother who lost her life due to COVID-19 complications.
“She held on for one last victory, managing to fight off the virus, but had expended all of her energy in the process,” wrote Branson in a blog post. “She took glider lessons disguised as a boy, enlisted in the WRENS (Women’s Royal Naval Service) during World War II … she was inventive, fearless, relentless — an entrepreneur before the word existed.”
Branson was a part of a six-person crew that comprised three other Virgin Galactic employees and two VSS Unity pilots. This marks the first time that a Virgin Galactic flight was telecasted live. The aim of the short flight was to evaluate what the customer experience would be like for people shelling out huge sums to book a seat on future flights. A seat to space will cost a staggering $250,000 and it will take passengers to the edge of space and let them enjoy few minutes of weightlessness.
More commercial flights in the offing
The altitude at which the latest flight reached has led to debate whether the company actually went into space. This is because there is no international standard for where the atmosphere of Earth ends and space begins. Most nations assume the Kármán line as the boundary where space starts; it’s around 100 km above sea level.
Other companies such as Blue Origin and SpaceX will be sending commercial flights to space. This will be the beginning of a new age in space tourism. With the test flight being successful, Virgin Galactic now has plans to have two more test flights before starting commercial services in 2022.
