A week before his 71st birthday, Sir Branson and his five crew members walked onto the tarmac of the U.S. Spaceport in New Mexico, waved to the onlookers, and boarded the waiting Unity rocket at the end of the taxiway. aircraft.
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson leaves with his crew before boarding the U.S. spaceport
/ Associated PressThe rocket plane carrying Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and other crew members took off from the U.S. spaceport near the truth or aftermath of New Mexico
/ Associated PressWith more than 500 people watching, a twin-fuselage plane equipped with the Branson space plane Unity took off in the first phase of the flight.
When the mothership reaches an altitude of 50,000 feet, Unity’s rocket engine will separate from the mothership and ignite, causing the space shuttle to ascend into a dark space approximately 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) high, where the crew will experience approximately four minutes of micro gravity.
As the engine shuts down near the climb peak, the aircraft will enter re-entry mode and then slide back to the runway of the spaceport to land.
The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, takes about 90 minutes.
