Richard Branson has become the first person to go to the edge of space on a ship financed with his own money. He has achieved it with the company he founded, Virgin galactic aboard the SpaceShipTwo, the ship that has been perfected for two decades to make commercial flights of these characteristics.
Along with Branson, astronaut instructor Beth Moses and engineers Colin Bennet and Sirisha Bandla traveled, accompanied by pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci. At 9:15 a.m. local time in New Mexico, United States, SpaceShipTwo disengaged from the WhiteKnightTwo at about 50,000 feet (15 kilometers) high, and rose to 282,700 feet, (86 kilometers). The mission was named Unity 22, and the objective is to analyze the commercial viability, comfort and of this type of experiences.
Virgin atlantic launches into space in a different way, instead of taking off from the ground, with one or more rockets, the ship is coupled to a large mother plane. After reaching the necessary altitude, it is released and ignites its rocket engine.
The objective of Richard Branson is to operate five of these ships for the private passenger transport service. Virgin galactic ensures that the goal is for anyone to experience going into space. The flight is priced at about $ 250,000 and lasts an hour and a half. You can experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.
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