Richard Branson is poised to make history as the first aerospace company founder to fly into space - and his fellow visionary Elon Musk has some words of support.
Virgin Galactic is set to send its first full crew to the edge of space on Sunday, July 11, and Richard Branson will be among its members, a few days before Jeff Bezos joins Blue Origin's first crewed flight on July 20. On Twitter, Branson posted an advertisement introducing the crew members in a set-the-date video. Shortly after, SpaceX founder Elon Musk retweeted, writing: "Will see you there to wish you the best."
News outlets picked Musk's response as an implication that he would be personally present at the Virgin Galactic flight, set for 6 AM PST (9 AM EST), at the New Mexico launch site.
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NM - JULY 10: The Visitors Center for Spaceport America is seen, prior to the launch of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity from nearby Spaceport America, on July 10, 2021, in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Crew
The Virgin Galactic Unity 22 flight will be bringing its crew to a height of 55 miles (about 88.5 kilometers), close to the Karman line or the edge of space at 62 miles. At this height, the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo-class spaceplane will temporarily cut its engines and leave the plane to drift in the lower layers of the Thermosphere, where the crew members will begin feeling weightless for about five minutes. As the Virgin Galactic aircraft is fitted with 17 windows in all, the two pilots and four crew members will see Earth and its curvature.
In an exclusive interview with Tom Costello on TODAY, the 70-year-old English business magnate insisted that he's not in competition with Jeff Bezos, founder of aerospace company Blue Origin and is set to launch nine days after he does.
"I always envisioned as a kid that a spaceship should look like this," Branson tells Costello in the interview. "I just thought that's how you should fly to space."
Additionally, Branson previously told The Washington Post that Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin having their first crewed flights in the same month is "just an incredible, wonderful coincidence." However, Blue Origin was less cordial than Elon Musk when its CEO Bob Smith told The New York Times that while they wish Branson and Virgin Galactic Unity 22 a great and safe flight, it was not crossing the Karman line that it's different from what Jeff Bezos will experience. Blue Origin seemed to fan the flames with a series of Twitter posts Friday, July 9.
A Space Flight 17 Years in the Making
Virgin Galactic, the company behind the upcoming Unity 22 flight, was founded back in 2004 by Richard Branson, who had previous experience with balloon flights and has previously founded the multinational Virgin Group and the Virgin Atlantic airlines.
The VSS Unity, which will carry Branson and his team, was first rolled out in February 2016, with additional system integration testing continued until September of the same year. It made its first spaceflight in December 2018, led by pilot and astronaut Mark P. "Forger" Stucky and former US Marine Corps officer and NASA astronaut Frederic W. Sturckow.
VSS Unity 22 flight follows the previous VSS Unity 21, which was completed last May 22 in a test flight led by Stucky and Sturckow.
Watch the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Spaceflight event as it happens through a live stream straight from the Virgin Galactic YouTube Channel:
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Check out more news and information on Virgin Galactic in Science Times.