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‘Experience of a lifetime’, says Branson on his maiden space flight
Branson, who had waited 17 years for this moment, was all smiles in a video link-up from the flight, and hugged his awaiting family, including grandchildren, on return.
Richard Branson and five members of his maiden space flight team made it back safely to a runway in New Mexico, US, on Sunday morning, as the British billionaire known for pulling off public stunts with a mixed scorecard of outcomes put it, an “experience of a lifetime”.
Branson, who had waited 17 years for this moment, was all smiles in a video link-up from the flight, and hugged his awaiting family, including grandchildren, on return.
It was a “complete experience of a lifetime”, the 70-year-old said in remarks beamed from the flight.
“Now I’m looking down at a beautiful spaceport,” said Branson, who was on board with India-descent Sirisha Bandla, three others and two pilots. “Congratulations to everyone for creating such a beautiful, beautiful place.”
Bandla is vice-president of government affairs and research operations at Virgin Galactic, the company Branson floated to run eventually pace travel business.
Bandla was to evaluate the human-tended research experience, the company had said in a pre-flight announcement, using an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several hand-held fixation tubes that will be activated at various points in the flight profile.
Aircraft VMS (Virgin Mother Ship) Eve took off from a runway in New Mexico at around 10.40 am (US eastern time) carrying spacecraft VSS (Virgin Spaceship) Unity underneath. The mother ship was to release the spaceship at an altitude of 40,000 feet. VSS Unity was to fire its engines for a climb powered at three times the sound of sound, before returning for a glide down to the runway.
Branson’s flight into space has raised some questions about if he actually did cross over the barrier where space begins. The flight took him roughly 55 miles above sea-level (88.5km), whereas space is said to actually begin at around 62 miles (100km).
Blue Origin, which plans to send its billionaire founder Jeff Bezos and his brother into space nine days from now, made that point about Branson’s flight two days ago. “We wish him a great and safe flight, but they’re not flying above the Karman line and it’s a very different experience,” Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith told The New York Times.
The Karman line is an imaginary line that separates Earth from space and is about 62 miles above (100km) above sea level, which is where Bezos is headed. “From the beginning, New Shepard (the Blue Origin flight) was designed to fly above the Karman line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name. For 96% of the world’s population, space begins 100km up at the internationally recognised Karman line,” they added in a tweet, adding, “Only 4% of the world recognises a lower limit of 80km or 50 miles as the beginning of space. New Shepard flies above both boundaries. One of the many benefits of flying with Blue Origin flight.”
