Virgin Galactic has announced that the next suborbital flight of its spaceplane will take place on August 2. Among the 6 people who will take part in it are a mother and daughter who won this trip on a sweepstake and an 80-year-old adventurer.
Virgin Galactic’s New Flight
Virgin Galactic, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, is preparing to make a second tourist suborbital flight. Already on August 10, a carrier aircraft and a SpaceShipTwo spaceplane docked to it will launch from the spaceport America, which is located in the state of New Mexico. There will be six space tourists on board.
Among them, for the first time in the history of space flights, there will be a mother and daughter. Keisha Schahaff from the small state of Antigua and Barbuda won a place in the shuttle two years ago during a sweepstake organized by Space for Humanity. Her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, an 18-year-old student, will fly into space with her.
In addition, another place in the shuttle went to 80-year-old Jon Goodwin. He spent his whole life in search of adventure, and in 1972 participated in the Olympic Games as a canoeist. In 2014, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, so he will become the second person in space with such a diagnosis.
Who will crew #Galactic02 on August 10? Meet our first private astronauts who will also become the first Olympian and first Caribbean astronauts in space:
Jon Goodwin | Astronaut 011 | ????????
Keisha Schahaff | Astronaut 012 | ????????
Anastatia Mayers | Astronaut 013 | ????????Follow their… pic.twitter.com/ka1kPEdAw2
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 17, 2023
Сompany’s ambitions
As in the previous flight, space tourists will rise to an altitude of 85 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. This is slightly lower than the space boundary recognized by international agreements. However, it is still higher than the 50 kilometers that are considered the border by the US Air Force.
Richard Branson really wants to become a leader in the suborbital tourism business. In past years, it has lagged far behind its competitors. But after Blue Origin stopped its flights after the accident in the autumn of 2022, and he was able to organize them this year, Virgin Galactic was again ahead.
Now it is important for them to maintain the promised pace of 1 flight per month and, if possible, even launch spacecraft faster. After all, almost 800 customers who bought their tickets in the past few years are waiting for their turn.
According to phys.org
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