Virgin Galactic space plane makes its first commercial flight
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The Virgin Galactic flight allows three Italians to conduct weightless science experiments.
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The Virgin Galactic logo is seen on SpaceShip Two at a Virgin Galactic hangar at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. (AP)
Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial plane into space on June 29 with a crew of six astronauts.
Richard Branson's space company, together with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, has now joined a select club of enterprises that can take paying customers to space.
The rocket-powered spaceplane VSS Unity was mated to a carrier plane for liftoff from Truth or Consequences in New Mexico.
The mission, dubbed Galactic 01, carried two members of the Italian Air Force and a research engineer rather than space tourists.
Billionaires race to space!
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Here are the differences between #RichardBranson's Virgin Galactic and #JeffBezos' Blue Origin space vehicles. pic.twitter.com/Cs13laUiX8
The three of them used the flight in order to collect scientific information in microgravity, which includes biometric data, cognitive data, and how well certain biomedically relevant liquids and solids mix.
Moreover, they used the experience as training for potential future missions to the International Space Station. The passengers were joined by two pilots and a flight engineer from Virgin Galactic.
When the carrier vehicle reached roughly 15 kilometers in height, it released the VSS Unity, which engaged its rocket engine for a sharp rise to 80 kilometers above Earth, traveling at around three times the speed of sound.
Before returning to Earth, the team experienced 5 minutes of weightlessness.
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