Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceliner, VSS Enterprise, made history on Sunday, Oct. 10, when it made a successful glide from its mother ship, WhiteKnightTwo, from an altitude of 40,000 feet before returning to earth in the Mojave Desert. More than 340 Virgin Galactic “astronauts” have already signed up to fly on the spaceliner at cost of roughly $200,000 each. The trips will launch from a new dedicated Spaceport currently being built in New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic flights are being sold by special space travel-accredited Virtuoso travel agents. “Today was a huge milestone as Virgin Galactic’s VSS Enterprise spaceship was released from VSS mothership and glided to a beautiful landing in the Mojave,” wrote Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, in a Facebook post. “This and being at Spaceport America last week sure makes the future feel a lot closer!”
The process of reaching this milestone also has been documented for the premiere of National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) four-part series, Virgin Galactic, which will document the historic process and milestones leading up to the first commercial space flight. Premiering Monday, Oct. 18, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NGC, Virgin Galactic is providing exclusive documentary coverage Virgin Galactic’s Sir Richard Branson and legendary aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan as they strive to be first to make space tourism an everyday reality. Also included in the premiere episode will be the backstory of the venture, including Rutan’s win of the Ansari X Prize with SpaceShipOne and WhiteKnightOne.
For a video of Sunday’s test flight, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDUVe3a496Y. For more information, visit www.virgingalactic.com/glideflightor www.virgingalactic.com.
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