Space News reports Virgin Galactic completed its fourth commercial suborbital space flight on October 6, “carrying three customers that included the first person from Pakistan to go to space. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity, took off from Spaceport America attached to its VMS Eve mothership at 11:28 a.m. Eastern. VSS Unity released from the plane at 12:10 p.m. Eastern, flying to an apogee of 87.5 kilometers before gliding back to a runway landing at the spaceport.”
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Tag: October 6
Crew Readies for Virgin Galactic’s Fourth Commercial Spaceflight
SPACE reports that Virgin Galactic “is preparing for its fourth commercial spaceflight mission.” Galactic 04 will “carry a three-person crew accompanied by the company’s head astronaut instructor, as well as the two pilots at the helm of Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity.” Their flight “to the edge space is scheduled to take place on Friday, (Oct. 6).” The mission “will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico.” VSS Unity and its crew “will be brought to altitude by the spaceplane’s double-cockpit carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, which will release VSS Unity at around 50,000 feet (15,000 meters).” After release, a “firing of VSS Unity’s rocket motor will put it on a suborbital trajectory, bringing the space plane and crew to the edge of space for a few minutes of weightlessness and a great view of their home planet.”
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