Virgin Galactic Takes First Passenger On Suborbital Test

February 22, 2019 Science, Technology

Engadget reports:

Virgin Galactic sent its first test passenger into sub-space today. The company’s chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses accompanied two pilots on a flight 55.85 miles above the Earth, just a few miles below the internationally recognized space boundary, 62 miles.

This will likely come as good news to the more than 600 people from 58 countries who have paid or put down deposits for suborbital flights with Virgin Galactic — some of those passengers have been queuing for as many as 14 years.

Reuters reports:



Branson is racing against competitors such as Blue Origin, the space business of Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring tourists into space. Branson has said he plans to be the first passenger on SpaceShipTwo’s first commercial flight in mid-2019.

More than 600 people from 58 countries, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio and pop star Justin Bieber, have paid or put down deposits to fly on one of Virgin’s $250,000 suborbital flights.

Tags

© joemygod.com 2024