The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo launched on Sunday above Spaceport America. Billionaire Richard Branson who owns the vessel joined the crew for the trip becoming the first person to launch into space on their own rocket. Branson is 71-years-of-age and was accompanied by 5 crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company.
The ship reached an altitude of 88 kilometers above New Mexico, which allowed the crew to experience 3-4 minutes of zero gravity. They were also able to view the curvature of the earth through the windows before safely coming back down to its runway landing. Branson commented on this moment by saying “The whole thing, it was just magical,”
The total time of the trip was only about 15 minutes but it was a success for this commercial company. Virgin Galactic plans to start taking paying customers to space and charging a pretty hefty fee. Jeff Bezos took the time to congratulate Branson and said “Can’t wait to join the club!” Branson beat Bezos by only 9 days as he has his own space flight plans as well.
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