The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity and mothership separate as they fly way above Spaceport America in New Mexico.NEW MEXICO - Virgin Galactic is set Thursday to finally begin commercial spaceflights, a major milestone for the company founded in 2004 by British billionaire Richard Branson.
It comes almost two years after Branson soared to the final frontier in a test flight meant to usher in a new era of lucrative space tourism. The company ended its spaceflight pause with a successful test in May, paving the way for Thursday's mission. Thursday's flight includes Colonel Walter Villadei and Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolf of the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci of the National Research Council of Italy, and Colin Bennett of Virgin Galactic.The crew will conduct 13 supervised and autonomous experiments, and collect data on their suits and sensors in the cabin.
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