Virgin Galactic launches rocket, Branson to space

Описание: (11 Jul 2021) Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson has blasted off aboard a rocket ship bound for space in his boldest, grandest adventure yet.
The thrill-seeking billionaire joined five company employees also assigned to Sunday's test flight from New Mexico.
It's the third trip to space for chief pilot David Mackay, a Scottish-born test pilot for the Royal Air Force who went on to fly for Branson's Virgin Atlantic, and the second for chief flight instructor Michael Masucci.
Chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, a former NASA engineer, also launched for the second time.
Joining Branson as space rookies are lead operations engineer Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, a vice president.
The six are grabbing a lift from mothership pilots C.J. Sturckow, a former NASA astronaut, and Kelly Latimer.
The London-born founder of the Virgin Group wasn't supposed to soar to space until later this summer.
But he assigned himself to an earlier flight after Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos announced plans to ride his own rocket on July 20.
Branson's space plane uses a special aircraft to get aloft, then fires a rocket motor to streak to space. It's a brief up-and-down jaunt.
Virgin Galactic's space plane, Unity, took off attached to a specially designed double aircraft nicknamed Eve after Branson's late mother.
After reaching nearly 50,000 feet (15,000 meters), the plane will be released and drop for a moment or two before its rocket motor ignites to send the craft on a steep climb toward space, exceeding 3 Gs, or three times the force of Earth's gravity.
The motor will shut off once the craft reaches space — a maximum altitude of about 55 miles (88 kilometers) is anticipated — enveloping the ship in silence as everyone but the pilots unbuckle, float and gaze out the 17 windows at Earth and the black void of space.
After a few minutes of weightlessness, the occupants will strap back in as the plane reorients itself for entry — folding up its wings, then folding them back down in unique technique known as feathering.
The rocket plane will glide back, NASA space shuttle style, to conclude about 15 minutes of free flight.
After Branson's launch, Virgin Galactic plans two more test flights this summer and fall before inviting paying customers on board.
The next one will include more company employees, and the last will have Italian Air Force members conducting research.

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