hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
Thrill-seeker Sir Richard Branson has inaugurated the dawn of the age of space tourism by becoming the first billionaire to make it into space after the 70-year-old Virgin Galactic founder took off on a flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere in the VSS Unity plane.
The flamboyant British entrepreneur has seen off rivals Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk after his game-changing mission took off from a spaceport in New Mexico, US following a 90-minute delay caused by weather overnight as millions watched on a live stream from around the globe.
Sir Richard, who said he dreamed of travelling to space as a young boy during the Cold War space race between the US and the Soviet Union, was one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc employees on board the space plane attached underneath the twin-fuselage aircraft.
With a crowd of more than 500 watching, the plan was for the space plane to detach from the mother ship at an altitude of about eight miles, fire its rocket engine and then pierce the edge of space at about 55 miles up.
After a few minutes of weightlessness for the crew, the space plane was supposed to glide to a runway landing. The brief, up-and-down flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.
Posting a photo of himself with space-tourism rival Elon Musk, Sir Richard tweeted: 'It's a beautiful day to go to space.' Before climbing aboard, he signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: 'The name's Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut 001. License to thrill.'
Unlike other commercial spaceflight companies, such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic initiates its flights without using a traditional rocket launch. Instead, the firm launches its passenger-laden SpaceShipTwo and other craft from a carrier plane, dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Once SpaceShipTwo has propelled itself into space its engines shut off for a period of weightlessness before returning home
The flamboyant British entrepreneur has seen off rivals Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk after his game-changing mission took off from a spaceport in New Mexico, US following a 90-minute delay caused by weather overnight as millions watched on a live stream from around the globe.
Sir Richard, who said he dreamed of travelling to space as a young boy during the Cold War space race between the US and the Soviet Union, was one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc employees on board the space plane attached underneath the twin-fuselage aircraft.
With a crowd of more than 500 watching, the plan was for the space plane to detach from the mother ship at an altitude of about eight miles, fire its rocket engine and then pierce the edge of space at about 55 miles up.
After a few minutes of weightlessness for the crew, the space plane was supposed to glide to a runway landing. The brief, up-and-down flight was intended as a confidence-boosting plug for Virgin Galactic, which plans to start taking paying customers on joyrides next year.
Posting a photo of himself with space-tourism rival Elon Musk, Sir Richard tweeted: 'It's a beautiful day to go to space.' Before climbing aboard, he signed the astronaut log book and wisecracked: 'The name's Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Astronaut 001. License to thrill.'
Unlike other commercial spaceflight companies, such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic initiates its flights without using a traditional rocket launch. Instead, the firm launches its passenger-laden SpaceShipTwo and other craft from a carrier plane, dubbed WhiteKnightTwo. Once SpaceShipTwo has propelled itself into space its engines shut off for a period of weightlessness before returning home
I watched it take off..I know it's history being made, but *meh* for me anyway. I think it's because Richard branson has never appealed to me in any way... in fact almost the opposite..
