New Mexico, 10 Aug, 2023 (GNP): The space tourism enterprise Virgin Galactic, established by British tycoon Richard Branson, finally launched its first space tourism mission to the cosmos, marking a significant stride in fulfilling commitments that spanned decades.
The company’s spacecraft, VSS Unity, powered by rocket engines took off from a spaceport in New Mexico, attached to an expansive twin-fuselage mothership at 8:30 a.m. MT today.
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On this mission, three passengers are embarking: Keisha Schahaff, an entrepreneur and advocate for health and wellness, and her daughter Anastasia Mayers, pioneers of space travel from Antigua, who secured their spots through a fundraising drawing. The third passenger is former Olympian Jon Goodwin, who competed in the 1972 Munich Summer Games as a canoeist. Goodwin’s journey is particularly remarkable, as he now became the second individual with Parkinson’s disease to venture into space.
The crew’s journey initiated from Virgin Galactic’s New Mexico spaceport, where the passengers boarded VSS Unity, positioned beneath the wing of the mothership named VMS Eve.
VMS Eve’s takeoff resembled an aircraft, accelerating along a runway before ascending to an altitude surpassing 40,000 feet (12,192 meters). Upon reaching the designated height, VMS Eve released the VSS Unity, which then ignited its rocket engine for roughly a minute, propelling it directly upward and sending it soaring toward the celestial expanse.
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The vehicle’s trajectory is charted to surpass 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface, aligning with the altitude deemed as the outer space threshold by the US government. (Internationally, the Kármán line, positioned at 62 miles or 100 kilometers above sea level, is often recognized as the boundary between space and Earth, although this demarcation possesses some ambiguity.)
During its ascent, the spaceplane attained supersonic speeds. At the highest point of its trajectory, the craft experienced several minutes of weightlessness when it entered free fall before gliding back to the spaceport for a runway landing at 9:30 a.m. MT. The entire voyage lasted for an hour.
