Richard Branson and his crew have completed Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed space test flight. The VSS Unity landed safely on Sunday morning in New Mexico after the British billionaire, two pilots and three mission specialists were launched to an altitude of about 50,000 feet using a carrier plane. Unity then soared on its own to the boundary of space, hitting a peak altitude of more than 250,000 feet. All six passengers then experienced several minutes of weightlessness before hurtling back to Earth. The voyage was the craft’s 22nd test flight — and its first with a significant crew.
- Branson's flight is expected to "spur development of a space-tourism industry," The Wall Street Journal writes. “We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” Branson said Sunday after landing, nodding to online criticism of the venture.
- Watch LinkedIn’s stream of Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed space test flight.
