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Looks like we’re missing this target, but no fret, Branson and co. have announced the scheduled departure of the first Virgin Galactic space flight on board SpaceShipTwo.
Richard Branson has confirmed that he will be on board the aircraft’s maiden voyage sometime in 2013, and that he’s taking his two adult children along with him for the ride. You know, just in case anyone had any doubts over the aircraft’s safety.
The 60-mile flight will will take over a couple of hours and includes five minutes of weightlessness plus the extremely pretty view, no doubt. The AP notes that a good 529 people have already signed up with their dollars to take a ride into space, up from the almost-500 we reported on before. Each person will take part in a week’s training in the run-up to the trip. If you’ve got £128k just itching to be spent on something, Virgin Galactic are still taking booking’s on the website. [AP (Yahoo News) via Engadget]
Virgin Galactic Nearing First Rocket-Powered Test Flight
The First Edge-of-Space Virgin Galactic Flight Should Be This Year
Only if I could get the Apollo 440 track playing during lift off.
Hopefully, thanks to Virgin, I’ll be able to go up myself in 30 – 40 years. Can’t afford the extreme price it is now, but maybe it’ll be a tad cheaper when I’m an old fart?
Glad to see people like Branson pulling their finger out.
Not sure how far Branson is ‘pulling his finger out’
From 2008:
“Virgin Galactic was predicting that it would begin flight testing in 2008 and make its maiden voyage in 2009.
Carolyn Wincer, head of astronaut sales for Virgin Galactic, says testing of SpaceShipTwo is still on track to begin in 2008, but that the first commercial flight may not occur until 2010, a year later than was projected. Testing will also begin in 2008 of WhiteKnightTwo, the larger craft that will carry SpaceShipTwo up into space.”
I’m sure I remember an even earlier prediction of the first commercial flight but this is the earliest I can find reference to. At this rate some of the early adopter have probably had to cancel due to old age (Stephen Hawking, Branson’s parents?)
I’m a supporter of these endeavours but they all take a lot longer than they used to due to increased risk aversion (for a variety of reasons). The days of Apollo within a decade are over.
i hope the price drops a bit over the next decade and i hope i get a chance to do this. i am just way too poor right now but dam it would be a life long dream to fly in space!