Branson's rocket plane takes its first paying passengers to the edge of space

abc.net.au/news/virgin-galactic-completes-first-commercial-rocket-plane-flight/102545012A three-man crew from Italy has soared more than 80 kilometres above the New Mexico desert aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane.The flight inaugurated Virgin Galactic's commercial space flight service after nearly 20 years of setbacksJeff Bezos and Elon Musk already have commercial space operations

Two of the Virgin Galactic crew members piloted the vehicle, VSS Unity, once it was launched at high altitude from the belly of its twin-fuselage carrier plane. Mr Branson founded the company with aerospace mogul Burt Rutan in a venture that grew out of the 2004 Ansari X Prize competition won by Mr Rutan's experimental spaceplane, a forerunner of the Unity.

It involved collecting biometric data, measuring cognitive performance and recording how certain liquids and solids mix in microgravity conditions. Rounding out the crew was their Virgin Galactic trainer, Colin Bennett, and Unity's two pilots, Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile.The rocket plane was brought up to its launch altitude by a transport jet.

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