Truth or consequences: Swashbuckling businessman Richard Branson struck into the sky on his own winged rocket ship in his bravest adventure, beating fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Branson, almost 71 years old and five crew members of the Virgin Galaxy Tourism Company reached an altitude of about 53 miles (88 kilometers) on the New Mexico desert – enough to experience three to four minutes without weight and see the curvature of the earth – and then safely slid home to the runway.
“Seventeen years of hard work to tell us so far,” Branson Jubilant said as he congratulated his team on the way back.
Branson became the first person to blow up his own space plane, beat Bezos nine days.
He also became only the second Septuagient to leave for space.
(John Glenn flew on the shuttle at the age of 77 years in 1998.) With around 500 people watching, including Branson’s wife, children and grandchildren, a twin-twin aircraft with a spacecraft installed under the plane.
The spacecraft was then separated from the aircraft carrier at an altitude of about 8 1/2 miles (13 kilometers) and fired the engine, reaching the edge of the room.
All flights rose and returned on a slim white boat, named Unity, only less than 15 minutes away.
Virgin Galactic made three previous test flights into space with only two or three crew.
Flamboyan founder, born London from Virgin Atlantic Airways should not fly until the end of this summer.
But he assigned himself for a previous flight after Bezos announced plans to drive his own rocket into space from Texas on July 20, the 52nd anniversary of landing Moon Apollo 11 Apollo.
Branson, who has a kite surfing on the English channel and tries to circle the world in a hot air balloon, denies him trying to defeat Bezos.
One of Branson’s main rivals in the race of tourism-tourism among the richest people in the world, SpaceX’s Elon Musk, arrived at New Mexico to watch the flight, hoping Branson via Twitter, “Godspeed!” Bezos also sent his desire for a safe and successful flight, even though he also brought to Twitter to mention the ways in which the company’s travel believed would be better.
The BLUE company Bezos intends to send tourists to pass the so-called Karman 62 mile line (100 kilometers) on earth, which is recognized by international flights and aerospace federation as a threshold.
But NASA, the Air Force, the administration of federal aviation and several astrophysical experts consider the limit between the atmosphere and space to start 50 miles (80 kilometers).
The risk to Branson and his crew was underlined in 2007, when a rocket motorbike test in the Mojave California desert left three workers to die, and in 2014, when a virgin galaxy rocket plane broke out during a test flight, killing a pilot and more seriously injuring.
Event the Showman, Branson insisted on Livestream Global flights on Sunday morning and invited celebrities and former astronauts of the space station to the United States base company in New Mexico.
Singer R & B Khalid is ready to do his new single “normal normal” – nod to Dawning Tourism Space – While CBS “Awak Show” host Stephen Colbert serves as a master of event ceremony.
Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 bookings from prospective tourists, with tickets initially cost USD 250,000 respectively.
The blue origin is waiting for a Bezos flight before announcing the ticket price.
SpaceX Musk, who has launched astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA and is building vessels of Moon and Mars, also competing for space tourism in space.
But the capsules will do more than making short robbery, up and down; They will go to orbit throughout the earth, with a chair for millions.
His first private flights were set for September.
Musk himself has not been committed to going into space in the near future.
“This is the horizon that is completely out there, new opportunities, new goals,” said former Astronaut NASA Chris Ferguson, who ordered the last shuttle flight 10 years ago.
He now works for Boeing, which is a test-flying space capsule itself.
“It’s really like the emergence of commercial air travel, only 100 years later,” Ferguson added.
“There are many waiting on the wing.”