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July 11, 2021
by Lucie Aubourg
This is what he has always dreamed of and founded his own company in 2004 to make it happen.
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On Sunday, billionaire Richard Branson will launch from a base in New Mexico aboard a Virgin Galactic ship that has sailed to the edge of space.
The Briton hopes to finally get the burgeoning space tourism industry going – but also to be one step ahead of Jeff Bezos by winning the race to be the first person to cross the final frontier in a ship built by his own company.
The great rival of the Amazon founder, SpaceX- Chef Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he would be there.
Hours later, Bezos got in touch with a message of support, but only after his own company Blue Origin posted a viral tweet that drew an unfavorable comparison between his space offerings and Virgin Galactic’s.
Several tourists traveled to the 2000s to the International Space Station, but on board Russian rockets.
Branson’s official role is to evaluate the private astronaut experience in order to improve the journey for future customers.
The space flight should be shortly after 7: 00:00 Mountain Time (1300 GMT), with a live stream from Virgin Galactic on its website.
A giant carrier aircraft will take off from a horizontal runway, flown by two pilots, and gain altitude for about an hour.
Hanging under this aircraft is the VSS Unity – a suborbital space aircraft of the SpaceShipTwo class – with two other pilots and four passengers: Branso n and three Virgin employees.After ascending to 50,000 feet (15 kilometers), the VSS Unity, roughly the size of a private jet, is dropped and then ignites its rocket-powered engine at Mach 3 above the altitude under consideration to ascend 80 kilometers out on the edge of space by US authorities.
Once the rocket motor is switched off, passengers can unbuckle their seatbelts and experience weightlessness for a few minutes while admiring the curvature of the earth from the ship’s 17 windows.
After the ship climaxes at about 55 miles, it re-enters the thick part of the atmosphere and slides back onto the runway.
Branson, who founded the Virgin Group, which is today is interested in everything from commercial aviation to fitness centers, is known for his thirst for adventure and has set world records in hot air ballooning and boating.
« As a kid, I wanted to go into space, » Schr ieb the cheeky 70-year-old a few days before his trip.
« When that was not likely for my generation, I registered the name Virgin Galactic with the idea of starting a company that could make this possible. »
A dream that almost came to an end in 2014, when a flight accident involving a Virgin Galactic ship caused the death of a pilot and significantly delayed the program.
Since then, VSS Unity has successfully reached space three times, in 2018, 2019 – including the first non-pilot crew member, and finally in May of this year.
The space flight on Sunday takes off from Spaceport America, a huge base that was built in the Jornada del Muerto desert, about 32 km southeast of the next apartment, Truth or Consequences.
The Base includes a more than two mile long runway and a building with rooms for flight operations and a reception center for future customers.
After Sunday, Virgin Galactic is planning two more flights, then the start of the regular one commercial operation from the beginning of 2022. The ultimate goal is 400 flights per year.
Around 600 tickets have already been sold to people from 60 different countries – including Hollywood stars – at prices between 200,000 and 250,000 US dollars.
And although, according to Branson, “the space belongs to all of us,” the opportunity is reserved for the privileged for the time being.
« When we return, I’ll be announcing something very exciting, to give more people the chance to become astronauts, » he promised.
The space tourism competition that has been heralding the rise for years has this month.
Bezos, the richest man in the world, is scheduled to fly Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on July 20th.
Blue Origin released an infographic on Friday showing the species and brags in a manner in which the experience it offers is superior.
The main point: New Shepard climbs more than 60 miles, crossing the so-called Karman Line, the limit of space according to international convention.
« None of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name, » boasted the company.
© 2021 AFP
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