Virgin Galactic made its first manned flight into space with SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity this past Friday.
The spacecraft was launched via the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which is responsible for lowering the propulsion needed to get the vehicle into space. Takeoff took place at 8:00 am at the Mojave Air and Space Port, located in California, the plane reached 44 feet and then released the VSS Unity.
From 44 feet, VSS Unity fired its engines to reach a maximum altitude of 295 feet (~90 km), a record for this spacecraft, and also reached a speed of Mach 3.04 (~3750 km/h).
After a few minutes re-entry began, with a maximum speed of Mach 2.70.
On board, three astronauts (Dave Mackay, Michael Sooch and Beth Moses) were responsible for the commands, especially Beth, a woman who is an Astronaut Instructor. This was the first time VSS Unity took three people.
Virgin Galactic added extra weight to the VSS Unity cabin to better mimic the load commercial flights will carry when carrying space tourists.
More than 600 people have paid or made deposits to fly aboard Virgin's suborbital missions, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Justin Bieber. A 90-minute flight costs $250.
