Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. Cheers erupted from family members and friends watching from below when the craft's rocket motor fired after it was released from the plane that had carried it aloft. The rocket ship reached about 55 miles high, reports the AP.
Richard Branson's company expects to begin offering monthly trips to customers. Virgin Galactic passenger Jon Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip. The 80-year-old athlete—he competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics—has Parkinson's disease. Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000. He was joined by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18, a student at Scotland's University of Aberdeen. Also aboard the plane-launched craft, which glides to a space shuttle-like landing: two pilots and the company's astronaut trainer.
It was Virgin Galactic's seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Branson, the company's founder, hopped on board for the first full-size crew ride in 2021. Italian military and government researchers soared in June on the first commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic's waiting list, according to the company. Branson had held a virtual lottery to establish a pecking order for the company's first 50 customers—dubbed the "Founding Astronauts." Virgin Galactic said the group agreed Goodwin would go first, given his age and his Parkinson's.
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Virgin Galactic's rocket ship launches from the belly of an airplane, not from the ground, and requires two pilots in the cockpit. Once the mother ship reaches about 10 miles high, the space plane is released and fires its rocket motor to make the final push to just over 50 miles up. Passengers can unstrap from their seats and float around the cabin for a few minutes before the space plane glides back home and lands on a runway. In contrast, the capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin are fully automated and parachute back down.
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