Richard Branson, crew safely back from historic space flight
NEW MEXICO: The Virgin Galactic rocket plane soared more than 80km above the New Mexico desert with British billionaire Richard Branson aboard and landed back on earth successfully yesterday.
It is the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to space. Mr Branson was one of six Virgin Galactic Holding employees on the flight.
He described the flight as a precursor to a new era of space tourism, with the company poised to begin commercial operations next year.
Yesterday's high-altitude launch of the VSS Unity rocket plane marks the company's 22nd test flight of its SpaceShipTwo system, and its fourth crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere. It is also the first to carry a full complement of space travellers - two pilots and four "mission specialists", Mr Branson among them.
A week away from his 71st birthday, Mr Branson and his crewmates walked onto the tarmac of New Mexico's Spaceport America waving to a throng of onlookers before boarding the waiting Unity rocket plane.
Video posted online by Virgin Galactic showed Mr Branson earlier arriving at the spaceport on his bicycle and greeting his crewmates with a hug.
A festive gathering of space industry executives, future customers and other well-wishers were on hand to witness the launch event, which was livestreamed in a presentation introduced by late-night television host Stephen Colbert.
The gleaming white spaceplane was borne aloft attached to the underside of a specially designed twin-fuselage carrier jet VMS Eve - named for Mr Branson's late mother, which took off at around 10.40am (10.40 pm, Singapore time).
Separating from the mothership when it reached an altitude of 15,240m, Unity's rocket engine ignited to send the spaceplane streaking straight upward some 88.5km high, where the crew experienced several minutes of microgravity.
With the engine shut down near the peak of its climb, the craft then shifted into re-entry mode before gliding back to a runway landing at the spaceport. - REUTERS
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