[ad_1]
Virgin Galactic has rocketed to the edge of space with the company’s first tourist flight including a former British Olympian and a mother-daughter duo from the Carribbean.
This first private customer flight had been delayed for years. Its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.
“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics.
He was joined on the flight by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18.
“A childhood dream has come true,” Schahaff said.
“I have no words,” her daughter said. “The only thought I had the whole time was ‘Wow!’ ”
With the company’s astronaut trainer and one of the two pilots, it marked the first time women outnumbered men on a spaceflight, four to two.
Cheers erupted from families and friends watching below when the craft’s rocket motor fired after it was released from the twin-fuselage aircraft that had carried it aloft.
The rocket ship’s portion of the flight lasted about 15 minutes and it reached 88 kilometers high.
[ad_2]
Source link