TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico: A three-man crew from Italy is set on Thursday to board a passenger rocket plane operated by Virgin Galactic, the venture British billionaire Richard Branson founded in 2004, for the company's first commercial flight to the edge of space.
The two Italian air force officers and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy were to join their Virgin Galactic instructor and the spaceplane's two pilots on a suborbital ride taking them about 50 miles (80 km) above the New Mexico desert.
The flight, dubbed Galactic 01, comes two years after Branson himself rode along with five other Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc personnel for the company's first fully crewed test spaceflight of its rocket plane, VSS Unity.
Back then, Virgin Galactic officials said they expected to begin regular commercial operations in 2022 following additional test flights. But completion of the test campaign took longer than anticipated after federal regulators grounded the rocket plane for 11 weeks while the company was under investigation for deviating from its assigned airspace on ascent during the July 2021 flight. A final crewed test flight to space was conducted successfully but with less fanfare five weeks ago.
Virgin Galactic is one of a handful of private ventures, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, catering to wealthy would-be citizen astronauts willing to pay large sums of money to experience the exhilaration of supersonic rocket speed, weightlessness and the spectacle of spaceflight.
The mission of the Italian team flying on Thursday, however, was touted as a scientific one, with the three men planning to collect biometric data, measure cognitive performance and record how certain liquids and solids mix in microgravity conditions.
ITALIAN RESEARCH MISSION
For Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, the flight is also part of his astronaut training for a future mission to the International Space Station.
Joining him on Thursday are two Italian colleagues - Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, a physician and flight surgeon, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a research council member acting as flight engineer and payload specialist.
Taking the fourth passenger seat is their Virgin Galactic trainer, Colin Bennett, who earned his astronaut wings on the July 2021 flight with Branson as the company's lead operations engineer. Unity will be operated by two Virgin Galactic pilots - retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile, who formerly held the same rank in the Italian air force.
Thursday's 90-minute flight profile is expected to follow the sequence Unity flew two years ago and again in May.
The gleaming white spaceplane was set to take off from Spaceport America, a state-owned facility near the New Mexico town of Truth of Consequences, attached to the underside of its dual-fuselage carrier jet, VMS Eve, named for Branson's late mother.
Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 50,000 feet (9.5 miles/15.24 km), Unity is to be released from the mothership and fall away as the spaceplane's rocket is ignited, sending the vehicle streaking straight upward at supersonic speed to the blackness of space some 50-55 miles (80-89 km) high.
At the apex of its climb, the rocket shuts down and the crew experiences a few minutes of near weightlessness before the spaceplane shifts into re-entry mode to begin a gliding descent to a runway back at the spaceport.
If all goes smoothly, Unity would fly again in early August, with monthly flights thereafter, the company said.
Virgin Galactic had projected booking its first 1,000 paying customers, charging about $250,000 per seat, by the time commercial service opened. Corporate officials have said they envision eventually building a large enough fleet to accommodate 400 flights annually.
Demonstrating that rocket travel is safe for the public is key. An earlier prototype of Virgin Galactic's rocket plane crashed during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert in 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. Passengers are now required to sign a pre-flight waiver acknowledging the risks and lack of government regulation over space tourism.
Bragging rights over what is considered true spaceflight also has factored into the business.
NASA and the U.S. Air Force both define an astronaut as anyone who has flown to an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) or more.
Billionaire rival Jeff Bezos, whose astro-tourist venture Blue Origin has already flown several commercial passenger flights, has disparaged Virgin Galactic as falling short of a true spaceflight experience.
Unlike Unity, according to Bezos, Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocketship tops the 62-mile-high-mark (100 km), called the Karman line, set by an international aeronautics body as defining the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
Reuters
Thu Jun 29 2023
People stand near the passenger rocket plane, operated by Virgin Galactic, one day before the company's first commercial flight to the edge of space, at the Spaceport America facility, in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, US, June 28, 2023. -REUTERS
Indeks kos bahan binaan naik 1.6 peratus pada Mei 2024 - Perangkaan
Indeks harga papan lapis mencatatkan peningkatan 1.6 peratus bagi kebanyakan kawasan di Semenanjung Malaysia, Sabah dan Sarawak pada Mei 2024 berbanding bulan sebelum itu.
Bursa Malaysia ditutup rendah
Pada 5 petang, FBM KLCI turun sebanyak 2.88 mata kepada 1,611.49 daripada 1,614.37 ketika ditutup Isnin.
Harimau Malaya ke Piala Dunia 2026 hampir mustahil, harap keajaiban di Muscat
Misi Malaysia mara lebih jauh dalam kempen kelayakan Piala Dunia hampir mustahil walaupun menundukkan Taiwan 3-1 pada perlawanan terakhir Kumpulan D pusingan kedua kelayakan Piala Dunia 2026.
Tumpuan Rabu – 12 Jun 2024
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan di Astro AWANI.
10 Berita Pilihan - (11 Jun 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
PDRM umum pertukaran 28 pegawai kanan
PDRM hari ini mengumumkan pertukaran 28 pegawai kanannya berkuat kuasa 8 Julai ini.
Pengeluaran getah asli Malaysia menurun 20.9 peratus pada April - DoSM
Pengeluaran getah asli Malaysia menurun 20.9 peratus kepada 21,325 tan pada April 2024 berbanding 26,966 tan yang dicatatkan semasa Mac lepas, menurut Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DoSM).
Berita Terkini Haji 2024 5 petang | 11 Jun 2024
Berita Terkini Haji memulakan perkongsian mengenai penganjuran Simposium Haji Perdana, selain cerita mengenai Hab Media Haji yang baru dibuka di Mekah dan juga kisah 15 sekeluarga yang menunaikan haji secara bersama tahun ini
Untuk jam 5 petang, 11 Jun 2024 berikut perkongsian kisah Haji:
* Menteri Agama sertia Simposium Perdana Haji ke 48 di Mekah
* Wartawan antarabangsa teruja dengan Hub Media Haji
* Persiapa terakhir menjelang kemuncak Haji 2024
Untuk jam 5 petang, 11 Jun 2024 berikut perkongsian kisah Haji:
* Menteri Agama sertia Simposium Perdana Haji ke 48 di Mekah
* Wartawan antarabangsa teruja dengan Hub Media Haji
* Persiapa terakhir menjelang kemuncak Haji 2024
Sarawak sedia keluar dana projek tanam padi - Abang Johari
Kerajaan Sarawak bersedia memperuntukkan sejumlah dana dalam projek penanaman padi bagi memastikan pengeluaran beras dan keselamatan makanan di Malaysia terjamin.
PRK Sungai Bakap: MCA dialu-alukan bantu kempen calon Kerajaan Perpaduan - Loke
Setiausaha Agung DAP Anthony Loke mengalu-alukan penglibatan MCA bagi membantu kempen calon mewakili Kerajaan Perpaduan pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sungai Bakap.
Richard Branson tolak berdebat dengan menteri Singapura isu hukuman mati
Jutawan British Sir Richard Branson menolak pelawaan Singapura untuk menyertai debat televisyen secara langsung dengan Menteri Undang-undang dan Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri K. Shanmugam.
Singapura pelawa Richard Branson berdebat isu dadah, hukuman mati
Singapura mengundang Sir Richard Branson untuk berdebat secara langsung menerusi televisyen mengenai pendekatan republik ini berhubung isu dadah dan hukuman mati.
Hukuman gantung: Richard Branson, Stephen Fry mohon Singapura beri Nagaenthran pengampunan
Mereka menggesa presiden Singapura, Halimah Yacob dan Perdana Menteri, Lee Hsien Loong untuk memberikan Nagaenthran, 34, pengampunan.
Individu paling kaya di dunia, Jeff Bezos lengkapkan misi angkasa lepas
Individu paling kaya di dunia, Jeff Bezos berlepas ke angkasa menggunakan kapsul pesawat New Shepard dari pangkalan angkasa lepas di Texas, pada Selasa.
Richard Branson lengkapkan misi angkasa lepas
Hartawan Richard Branson melengkapkan misi angkasa lepas, apabila pesawat angkasa Virgin Galactic berjaya mendarat di Spaceport, New Mexico.
Richard Branson berlepas ke angkasa
Branson berlepas dari Spaceport America di New Mexico pada pukul 10.44 malam waktu Malaysia dan pelepasan itu disiarkan secara penstriman langsung di AstroAWANI.com.
Richard Branson bersedia untuk ke angkasa lepas
Virgin Galactic menjadi syarikat roket pertama yang menerbangkan pengasas syarikatnya ke angkasa lepas.
Virus korona jejas pendapatan, dana kerajaan ditagih hartawan
Akibat tidak sanggup menanggung beban pembayaran gaji dari poket sendiri, mereka dikecam tangkai jering.
Kemalangan basikal, Richard Branson sangka sudah mati
Branson terpelanting dari basikal dan cedera di bahagian pipi serta ligamennya terkoyak.
Virgin Group beri cuti bergaji setahun kepada pekerja baru bergelar bapa
Polisi baru syarikat itu memberi cuti bergaji sehingga setahun kepada pekerja lelaki yang baru menimang cahaya mata.