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Voyagers in outer space! Virgin Galactic sent its first clients to the edge of space this Thursday.
The company, founded by Sir Richard Branson, took an octogenarian and mother-daughter duo to 88 km above Earth, where the passengers experienced zero gravity during the flight that lasted just over an hour.
Pilots CJ Sturckow and Kelly Latimer, along with astronaut instructor Beth Moses, joined the tourists on VSS Unity, which lifted off around 8:30 am local time (4:30 pm our time) at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
VSS Unity separated from its carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, at 9:17 am and after the rocket ignited, it ascended rapidly towards space.
Just two minutes later, from the images coming from VSS Unity, the passengers could be seen leaving their seats and seeing Earth outside the rocket’s windows. Several other cameras, mounted outside the rocket, captured images of the spherical Earth.
Undoubtedly, this will be the most unique experience in the life of Jon Goodëin from Neëcastle, who competed in canoeing at the 1972 Olympic Games, and Keisha Schahaff, along with her 18-year-old daughter, Anastatia Mayers, who became the first astronauts from the Caribbean. Mother and daughter won their spots on board, thanks to a lottery.
This is Virgin Galactic’s seventh space journey since 2018, but the first with tourists.
The company will offer trips to clients, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.
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