Virgin Galactic Begins Space Tourism with Long-Delayed Rocket Ship Ride
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — After a series of delays, Virgin Galactic has finally launched its first space tourists on a rocket ship ride. Among the passengers are a former British Olympian and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The rocket-powered plane was carried aloft on Thursday morning from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. The plan is to release the plane and fire its rocket to reach the edge of space.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is entering the space tourism industry, joining competitors such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. If all goes as planned, Virgin Galactic will begin offering monthly trips to customers on its winged space plane.
Jon Goodwin, a Virgin Galactic passenger and one of the first to buy a ticket in 2005, expressed his faith that he would finally make the trip. Despite his battle with Parkinson’s disease, the 80-year-old athlete, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics, aims to inspire others. Goodwin hopes his journey will show others that obstacles can be the start of new adventures.
Goodwin purchased his ticket for $200,000, while the cost has now increased to $450,000. He is accompanied by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, a 46-year-old health coach from Antigua, and her 18-year-old daughter, Anastatia Mayers, a student at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The craft also carries two pilots and the company’s astronaut trainer.
This marks Virgin Galactic’s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Previously, the company’s founder, Richard Branson, was onboard for the first crewed ride in 2021. In June, Italian military and government researchers joined a commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list.
Virgin Galactic’s rocket ship operates differently from SpaceX and Blue Origin’s capsules. It launches from the belly of an airplane and requires two pilots in the cockpit. The space plane is released at around 50,000 feet and ignites its rocket motor to ascend just over 50 miles. Unlike the fully automated capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin, passengers on Virgin Galactic’s plane can unstrap from their seats, float around the cabin, and enjoy the breathtaking views of Earth before the plane glides back home and lands on a runway.
Adventure travel has always carried risks, exemplified by the recent tragedy of the Titan submersible that claimed the lives of five passengers on their way to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Virgin Galactic faced its own tragedy in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, resulting in the death of one pilot. Nevertheless, space tourism continues to attract enthusiasts since its inception in 2001.
In an update, it was clarified that Jon Goodwin paid $200,000, not $250,000, for his ticket.
Reporting from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this article was brought to you by the Associated Press Health and Science Department, which receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.