Branson are going to be making the space trip aboard his company Virgin Galactic's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity. The spacecraft are going to be borne by a twin-fuselage carrier jet dubbed VMS Eve (named for Branson's mother). Photos shared by Virgin Galactic on social media showed the gleaming white spaceplane, ready to form its debut flight up to an altitude of fifty ,000 feet hoisted on the jet, where it'll be released for the remainder of its journey through the outer fringe of the Earth's atmosphere.
Richard Branson are going to be amid pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, flying the VSS Unity. Pilots CJ Sturckow and Kelly Latimer also will be there flying the VMS Eve. Others within the crew include chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses and lead operations engineer Colin Bennett. vice president of state affairs and research operations Sirisha Bandla, the Indian-origin American set to go to space, is additionally a neighborhood of the crew.
I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. On July 11, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality aboard the next @VirginGalactic spaceflight https://t.co/x0ksfnuEQ3 #Unity22 pic.twitter.com/GWskcMSXyA
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 1, 2021
Branson's debut journey to the frontiers of space are going to be streamed live across the planet by Virgin Galactic through its official social media channels. Just hours before the test flight launch, the corporate said that the live stream will begin at 6am PT (Pacific Time) on Sunday. This comes right down to around 6:30pm IST.
Wake up and watch the launch of the next space age! Our crew of #Unity22 mission specialists including @RichardBranson are just hours away from our test flight launch.
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 10, 2021
Watch live tomorrow at 6 am PT | 9 am ET | 2 pm BST on https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb. pic.twitter.com/mtpHIzjADa
Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceflight, if all goes consistent with plan, will last about 90 minutes and end where it began - on a runway at Spaceport America near the aptly named town of Truth or Consequences. Although this is often the company's 22nd test flight of the spacecraft and its fourth crewed mission beyond the Earth's atmosphere, this particular mission are going to be the primary to hold a complement of space travelers – two pilots and 4 "mission specialists", Branson among them.
Richard Branson had earlier said that he wasn't curious about participating in some "space race", shortly after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced his plans to form an identical trip on July 20 through his own space company, Blue Origin. However, Branson later decided to launch himself into space nine days before Bezos does to become the primary billionaire to try to to so.
Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk are all popular for his or her interest in space and commercial flights. However, if all goes consistent with plan, Sunday's flight will give Branson the bragging rights over his rivals.
