This afternoon we are going to see the very start of something amazing, something that has been so long in the making, and far far longer in the dreaming!
Evaluating the commercial customer cabin with a full crew, including the cabin environment, seat comfort, the weightless experience, and the views of Earth that the spaceship delivers — all to ensure every moment of the astronaut’s journey maximizes the wonder and awe created by space travelDemonstrating the conditions for conducting human-tended research experimentsConfirming the training program at Spaceport America supports the spaceflight experience
This also paves the way for commercial passenger flight experiences to space, or as near as possible to fly in weightless conditions. RB said "We are at the vanguard of a new industry determined to pioneer twenty-first-century spacecraft, which will open space to everybody — and change the world for good." laudable sentiments for sure and also rather a lucrative business, with passenger flight tickets in the £100,000s and the firm's value said to be nearly £3 billion.
After today's flight, Richard will announce something remarkable, we expect this to be when he tells us what date the first scheduled passenger flights will be taking off, and of course when tickets will be on sale. Maybe even a competition, for those that don't have quite such deep pockets will still get a chance to get to the stars - or perhaps we're just dreaming about that!
Our editor in chief Jason Shaw is counting down to the event, "I'm oddly excited about the launch of this first fully crewed mission for Virgin Galactic. Not to the same level as I was watching the first space shuttle take off all those years ago, but pretty much close to it, for I can remember Richard Branson talking about going into space one day. It seems so long ago that he held the dream, back in the days he was doing all those high and long-distance balloon flights, yet it is a dream he has clung on to. A dream that started to become a reality with the formation of Virgin Galactic some 16 years ago. Now that dream really is a reality, he is actually doing what he always said he would do - be one of the first passengers in space.
I have no doubt there will be regular passenger space flights within a year. Within five years I predict there will be longer passenger space flights with maybe two or three complete earth orbits. In seven to ten years we could be seeing passenger flights to the moon - complete with a surface walk experience! And all of that starts with today's first flight, so that's why I'm excited. Good luck Sir Richard and the entire crew, for today, all of our dreams rest upon your shoulders."
Virgin Galactic will livestream the event to watch on Virgin Galactic.com and will be simulcast on the Virgin Galactic Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook channels. The flight was scheduled for 7:00 am MDT / 9:00 am EDT / 2:00pm BST / 1:00pm GMT today, however, due to overnight weather, this has been delayed to 7:30 am PT | 10:30 am ET | 3:30 pm BST.
Follow this site here.