Virgin Galactic conducts first commercial flight to the limit of the space
(Virgin Galactic/Twitter https://bit.ly/3CX3lsF)
The spaceplane VSS Unity of the private space company Virgin Galactic has successfully completed the first commercial suborbital flight.
On board the spaceplane were three Italian researchers who were conducting biological and physical experiments.
Virgin Galactic is engaged in tourist suborbital flights and it’s using the VSS Unity spaceplane.
The vehicle accommodates four passengers and two pilots and is dropped from a carrier aircraft that rises above 80 kilometers, which is considered the boundary of space by the US Air Force.
The company received official permission for commercial flights last year, and then its founder Richard Branson went on a suborbital flight.
At the end of May of this year, the last test flight of the spaceplane took place, and on June 29 at 8:30 local time the first commercial flight began.
This flight received the designation "Galactic 01".
The spaceplane took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, then the VSS Unity started its rocket engine, separated from the carrier and reached an altitude of 85.1 kilometers.
After that it returned to the spaceport at 9:42 local time and successfully landed.
The flight was ordered by the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy.
There were three Italian researchers on board the spaceplane, as well as an astronaut instructor from the company.
Experiments were carried out to study the effect of microgravity on humans, as well as to mix solid and liquid substances in microgravity.
Sources:
- ScienceAlert: https://www.sciencealert.com/finally-virgin-galactic-has-taken-its-first-paying-customers-into-space
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/1674444931304427520
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