Infographic: Billionaire space tourism | Infographic News

Billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are set to cross the last frontier aboard their own spacecraft this July.

On July 11 at 2:30 p.m. GMT, Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, along with two pilots and three other passengers will take off from the Virgin Galactic operational base at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert. Its crew will reach a maximum altitude of around 89 km (55 miles) and experience a few minutes of weightlessness before hovering back down to Earth.

Nine days later, on July 20, Bezos, executive chairman of Amazon, will lift off a reusable rocket from a launch pad in West Texas with five other people, including his brother Mark. Its crew will reach an altitude of about 100 km (62 miles).

(Al Jazeera)

Reach the edge of space

Branson is known for his reputation as a daredevil hard worker with a heritage of sea and balloon expeditions. He is about to promote his thriving astrotourism business by projecting himself into suborbital space.

Sunday’s launch will be Virgin Galactic Holding Inc’s (SPCE.N) first full crew test flight to the edge of space.

The spaceplane will be released by a twin-fuselage carrier aircraft dubbed VMS Eve (named after Branson’s mother) at an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), where Unity will be released, and will take to power of a rocket in an almost vertical climb through the outer fringe of Earth’s atmosphere.

At the top of their flight some 89 km over the New Mexico desert, the crew will experience weightlessness for a few minutes before making a gliding descent to Earth. The flight is expected to last approximately 90 minutes and will be broadcast live.

Virgin’s Unity 22 mission marks the spacecraft’s 22nd test flight and the company’s fourth crewed mission beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

While the mission is seen as a potential step to help turn citizens’ rocket travel into a mainstream commercial enterprise, spaceflight remains an inherently dangerous enterprise.

An earlier prototype of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane crashed during a test flight over the Mojave Desert, California, in 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another.

Branson’s Sunday flight outshines rival Bezos and his space company, nine-day Blue Origin in what is known as the “billionaire space race.”

Bezos, founder and former CEO of online retail giant Amazon.com, is expected to fly aboard Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket, the New Shepard, on July 20.

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, as well as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX, compete in the emerging space tourism industry, although Musk has a good head start.

SpaceX, which plans to send its first fully civilian crew (without Musk) into orbit in September, has already launched numerous payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station.

(Al Jazeera)

Who is on board?

VSS Unity has two pilots, Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, who will control the ignition and shutdown of the ship’s rocket motor, and activate the vehicle’s “feathered” tail maneuver for re-entry.

The other three mission specialists are Beth Moses, the company’s chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, Chief Operating Engineer of Virgin Galactic; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of research operations and government affairs.

Virgin says it plans two more test flights of the spaceplane before starting commercial service next year.

The company said it has received more than 600 flight reservations, priced at around $ 250,000 per ticket, but ultimately hopes to reduce the cost of each seat to $ 40,000.

US-based institutes like the USAF define space as 80 km (50 miles), which is slightly different from the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) which defines it as 100 km (62 miles) above the sea ​​level. The Karman Line is also defined at nearly 100 km. NASA Mission Control sets the start of space at 122 km (76 miles).

Virgin Galactic will be in orbit 89 km and Blue Origin will sail 100 km above sea level.

It is commonly attributed that space begins when the atmosphere alone is not sufficient to support a spacecraft flying at suborbital speeds.

(Al Jazeera)