Virgin Galactic's Branson touches down safety in rocket plane after soaring to space

Record ID: 1626182

  • Title: Virgin Galactic's Branson touches down safety in rocket plane after soaring to space
  • Date: 11th July 2021
  • Summary: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (JULY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LANDING OF VIRGIN GALACTIC'S VSS UNITY ROCKET PLANE WITH BRITISH ENTREPRENEUR, RICHARD BRANSON ON BOARD
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2021 16:51
  • Keywords: Richard Branson Virgin Galactic space travel
  • Location: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
  • City: TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Science,Space Exploration,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA001ELECH8N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: British billionaire Richard Branson landed safely on Sunday (July 11), after his Virgin Galactic rocket plane soared more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert on the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to space.
    Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc. employees strapping in for the flight, has touted the mission as a precursor to a new era of space tourism, with the company he founded poised to begin commercial operations next year.
    Sunday's high-altitude launch of the VSS Unity rocket plane marks the company's 22nd test flight of its SpaceShipTwo system, and its fourth crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere. It is also the first to carry a full complement of space travelers - two pilots and four "mission specialists," Branson among them.
    The gleaming white spaceplane was borne aloft attached to the underside of a specially designed twin-fuselage carrier jet VMS Eve - named after Branson's late mother - which took off at around 10:40 a.m. EDT (1440 GMT).
    Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 46,000 feet, Unity was released from the mothership and fell away as its crew ignited the vehicle's rocket, sending it streaking straight upward at supersonic speed to the blackness of space some 53 miles (85.9 km) high.
    At the apex of the climb with the rocket shut down, the crew then experienced a few minutes of microgravity, before the spaceplane shifted into re-entry mode, and began a gliding descent to a runway back at the spaceport. The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, lasted about an hour.
    (Production: Michael Fiorentino, Lisa Giles-Keddie)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register