Photo: Virgin Galactic
Of all the space startups that promised over the past few years a flood of rocket flights with civilians onboard, only one has managed to actually start operations. Virgin Galactic did that earlier this year, and the company is already approaching the date of its fifth commercial flight.
It's called Galactic 05, and the flight window for it opens on November 2. This one will be primarily a research flight, taking to the edge of our planet five science experiments, two pilots, and a paying crew of three.
The flight will be in the hands of commander Mike Masucci and pilot Kelly Latimer. They will be on board the VSS Unity spacecraft, while the carrier plane, VMS Eve, will be flown by commander Jameel Janjua and pilot Andy Edgell. An astronaut instructor named Colin Bennett will also be on board to assess the viability of a fourth seat for paying customers that will be used starting with mission Galactic 06.
Back to the flight that's about to take place, it will take up there for a brief encounter with zero g and the incredible sights three people. Only one is there for sightseeing, apparently, a Franco-Italian national whose name was not disclosed.
The other two, on the other hand, are scientists. Dr. Alan Stern from the Southwest Research Institute takes to the sky on behalf of the NASA Flight Opportunities program. He will be tasked with running tests on a biomedical harness capable of collecting physiological data. A separate, astronomical experiment will also be on his agenda.
The other scientist, Kellie Gerardi from the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), will have three experiments on her hands. Not at her first trip up, the science influencer, if we can call her that, will test healthcare technologies in microgravity.
Virgin itself will use the Galactic 05 flight to advance its development of the upcoming and slightly more capable spaceship, the Delta, scheduled to take flight for the first time sometime in 2025.
Virgin will conduct the flight in the usual manner. The carrier plane takes off in a conventional way with the Unity attached to it. Once it reaches the set altitude, it releases the spacecraft, which then shoots up to an altitude that generally falls short than the agreed limit to space, the Karman line.
Following the November flight, the company will take a break for December, and only return to operations in the first month of next year. Unlike what happened until now, Galactic 06 will carry four paying people to space.
As a reminder, a flight to orbit onboard the Virgin spaceship is technically cheaper than other solutions, but still prohibitively expensive for most of us. Richard Branson's company is charging $450,000 for a single seat. That includes the flight itself, but also multi-day training and a retreat at Spaceport America for the astronauts, and their families and friends.
The flight will be in the hands of commander Mike Masucci and pilot Kelly Latimer. They will be on board the VSS Unity spacecraft, while the carrier plane, VMS Eve, will be flown by commander Jameel Janjua and pilot Andy Edgell. An astronaut instructor named Colin Bennett will also be on board to assess the viability of a fourth seat for paying customers that will be used starting with mission Galactic 06.
Back to the flight that's about to take place, it will take up there for a brief encounter with zero g and the incredible sights three people. Only one is there for sightseeing, apparently, a Franco-Italian national whose name was not disclosed.
The other two, on the other hand, are scientists. Dr. Alan Stern from the Southwest Research Institute takes to the sky on behalf of the NASA Flight Opportunities program. He will be tasked with running tests on a biomedical harness capable of collecting physiological data. A separate, astronomical experiment will also be on his agenda.
The other scientist, Kellie Gerardi from the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), will have three experiments on her hands. Not at her first trip up, the science influencer, if we can call her that, will test healthcare technologies in microgravity.
Virgin itself will use the Galactic 05 flight to advance its development of the upcoming and slightly more capable spaceship, the Delta, scheduled to take flight for the first time sometime in 2025.
Virgin will conduct the flight in the usual manner. The carrier plane takes off in a conventional way with the Unity attached to it. Once it reaches the set altitude, it releases the spacecraft, which then shoots up to an altitude that generally falls short than the agreed limit to space, the Karman line.
Following the November flight, the company will take a break for December, and only return to operations in the first month of next year. Unlike what happened until now, Galactic 06 will carry four paying people to space.
As a reminder, a flight to orbit onboard the Virgin spaceship is technically cheaper than other solutions, but still prohibitively expensive for most of us. Richard Branson's company is charging $450,000 for a single seat. That includes the flight itself, but also multi-day training and a retreat at Spaceport America for the astronauts, and their families and friends.
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