£350,000 for a few minutes in space - first Virgin Galactic flight a success

Virgin Galactic has blasted off to the edge of space, marking the company’s first commercial spaceflight 🚀

has blasted off to the edge of space, marking the company’s first commercial spaceflight.

After reaching an altitude of around 50,000 feet at 4.30pm UK time, the mothership, VMS Eve, released the rocket plane called VSS Unity with three Italian astronauts on board. Those inside the spaceship unfurled an Italian flag after reaching a state of weightlessness, having been given the all-clear to unbuckle and ‘enjoy’ zero gravity for a few minutes.Around 15 minutes later, the crew, including an astronaut instructor, landed safely back on Earth at Spaceport America in New Mexico, having conducted 13 scientific experiments.

Crew members from the Italian Air Force display the Italian flag as they reach space during the first commercial flight from Spaceport City British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic tweeted: ‘Welcome back to Earth, £Galactic01! Our pilots, crew and spaceship have landed smoothly at @‌Spaceport-NM.’Another conducted tests using sensors to track heart rate, brain function and other metrics while in microgravity.

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