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2023-06-29 Science & Technology
Inside Virgin Galactic's astronaut school: Behind-the-scenes video reveals the rigorous training the four passengers have gone through ahead of their maiden voyage tomorrow
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Virgin Galactic customers who have splashed out hundreds of thousands of dollars on a trip to space are finally set to be rewarded.

The firm, founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, will perform its first commercial flight, 'Galactic 01', tomorrow.

Ahead of the maiden voyage, the four passengers have been through a rigorous training programme at Virgin Galactic's 'astronaut school.'

Behind-the-scenes footage shows the crew preparing for the mission, including test flights, safety training and a flight walkthrough.

The flight is set to take off at 10:30 ET (15:30 BST) tomorrow.

The 'Galactic 01' flight will see four passengers board VSS Unity for a 90-minute flight to conduct a series of 13 suborbital science experiments.

Galactic 01 will be followed by a second commercial spaceflight, 'Galactic 02,' in early August 2023, with monthly spaceflights expected thereafter.

Virgin Galactic completed its final test flight in May when it sent a crew of four company employees more than 50 miles above the surface of the Earth.

Virgin Galactic has sold about 800 tickets for its space trip over the past decade, with the initial batch going for $200,000 (£156,000) each, but they now cost $450,000 (£350,000) per person.

Virgin Galactic's launch method is different from SpaceX and Blue Origin, which perform dramatic vertical rocket launches much like NASA.

Virgin Galactic uses a carrier aircraft called White Knight Two with two pilots who take off from a runway and then gain high altitude.

When at just under 10 miles high (50,000 feet), White Knight Two releases its rocket-powered crewed spaceplane VSS Unity, which ignites its rocket motor and soars even higher.
Posted by Skidmark 2023-06-29 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ]  Top

#1 "The flight is set to take off [Thursday] at 10:30 ET"

Watch Virgin Galactic's 1st commercial spaceflight launch live online in this livestream today
Posted by Skidmark 2023-06-29 09:03||   2023-06-29 09:03|| Front Page Top

#2 European Space Agency will launch a space telescope this weekend on a MILLION-mile mission to uncover the mysteries of the dark universe
Posted by Skidmark 2023-06-29 09:21||   2023-06-29 09:21|| Front Page Top

#3 Last Ariane 5 launch is next week.
Posted by M. Murcek 2023-06-29 09:28||   2023-06-29 09:28|| Front Page Top

#4 Watch all the launches on NextSpaceflight.
Posted by M. Murcek 2023-06-29 09:29||   2023-06-29 09:29|| Front Page Top

#5 Why is the concept of infinity so difficult to grasp ?

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,.....237,897,126 and so on.
Posted by Besoeker 2023-06-29 09:42||   2023-06-29 09:42|| Front Page Top

#6 ^ Standard Boundary Value problem.
Complete expression of constraints, or 'boundary conditions' is tedious.
Posted by Skidmark 2023-06-29 09:55||   2023-06-29 09:55|| Front Page Top

#7 Virgin Galactic: Sir Richard Branson's rocket plane enters commercial service
Posted by Skidmark 2023-06-29 12:42||   2023-06-29 12:42|| Front Page Top

#8 Hopefully they didn’t fire all the boring weight physicists.
Posted by Super Hose 2023-06-29 15:15||   2023-06-29 15:15|| Front Page Top

12:00 Frank G
11:58 Besoeker
11:50 Super Hose
11:50 Abu Uluque
11:48 Super Hose
11:42 Super Hose
11:41 Abu Uluque
11:39 Angstrom
11:35 Abu Uluque
11:33 Abu Uluque
11:17 Procopius2k
11:16 Abu Uluque
11:15 Grom the Affective
11:06 Grom the Affective
11:06 The Walking Unvaxed
11:02 Frank G
11:01 Skidmark
10:57 Grom the Affective
10:55 Rex Mundi
10:54 Skidmark
10:50 Angstrom
10:44 Skidmark
10:26 Crusader
10:24 Lord Garth









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