The first mother-daughter duo to go to space have told DailyMail.com that they feel more grounded and connected to Earth after venturing to the final frontier.

Keisha Schahaff, 46 and her daughter Anastatia Mayers, 18, from Antigua, made the comments hours after being part of Virgin Galactic‘s first space tourist flight.

‘This experience has grounded me. Awoken me,’ Mayers said when asked what was next for the crew after the incredible mission.

‘I feel more connected to Earth and motivated to explore and be even more adventurous. For me, in the future, it will just be adventure and searching for the most incredible experiences.’

Schahaff and her daughter won their seats on the rocket-powered space plane, which would normally cost $450,000 per person, in a fundraising drawing.

‘Obviously, nothing will top this,’ Mayers concluded after the flight. Though the teenager, who is now the second youngest person ever to go to space, revealed how she had ‘second thoughts’ about whether she wanted to do it last night.

The mother and daughter were also joined by Jon Goodwin, 80, who is now the first Olympian and the second person with Parkinson’s in space.

It was a long time coming for Goodwin, who paid $250,000 for his seat back in 2005.

Mayers is in her second year at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, studying Philosophy and Physics to become an astrobiologist.

She told reporters about her feelings of uncertainty about the spaceflight Wednesday evening. 

‘Last night, second thoughts, but then I woke up and felt like I was ready,’ said Mayers.

Schaffaf also felt motivated after the spaceflight.

‘I am going to make a strong impact to motivate younger ones,’ she said reponding to DailyMail.com’s question.

‘This experience has given me this beautiful feeling that if I can do this, I can do anything. I am going to take the next step and see what comes.’

Goodwin also spoke to reporters after the historic mission, sharing how his Parkinson’s has not stopped him from living his life. He was diagnosed in 2014.

‘The nicest thing for me was the acceptance by Virgin Galactic because when I signed up in September 2005, I did not have Parkinson’s.

‘Nine years ago, I thought that was the end of me going to space. They have done various health checks and everything else over the years, which never stopped me from doing what I wanted.

‘I am hoping I instill in people around the world, as well as people with Parkinson’s,  that it doesn’t stop you from doing things if you have some illness that has inflicted you.’

Schahaff and her daughter won their seats in a drawing that raised $1.7 million in grants for Space for Humanity, a nonprofit aimed at expanding access to space.

After learning Richard Branson gifted her a seat, she called Mayers on the phone: ‘Now that you’re 18, you are going to space.’

‘It is a childhood dream come true,’ Schahaff told reporters upon landing. ‘I’ve been to space and back with my daughter. And if anyone is wondering, the Earth is round.’

Schahaff is a health and wellness coach specializing in helping women achieve balance through healthy eating, energy work, and a variety of empowering wellness practices, according to her website.

The flight was historic for several reasons. Schahaff and her daughter were the first Antiguans to go to space. 

For Virgin Galactic, this is the first time a commercial crew of passengers who were not trained had left the Earth’s atmosphere – an ambition of the Richard Branson-founded company that has been decades in the making.

And Goodwin, a  former canoeist, became only the second person in history with Parkinson’s to go to space. 

Goodwin, from Newcastle in northern England, secured his seat as the company’s first paying customer 18 years ago.

Goodwin’s son David told DailyMail.com on the runway this morning that his father’s spaceflight has been a long time coming.

And when asked how his father is the first Olympian and second oldest and individual with Parkinson’s, David said: ‘My father likes to tick a lot of boxes.’

Goodwin is a retired slalom canoeist, has been a regular and leading competitor in the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship since 1992, winning in 2000 and 2008, and has more Class wins than any other competitor – as of the end of the 2020 season.

He is married to Pauline, who also competed in the Olympic games in 1972 and 1976. She was in New Mexico cheering her husband, son David, grandson and daughter-in-law Lily.

The crew took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 8:30am MT, strapped inside Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, Unity, which was attached to the underbelly of the mothership, Eve.

The planes soared to more than 44,000 feet above Earth’s surface, allowing Unity to separate by igniting its thrusters.

Unity took off, climbing to 50 miles above the surface and hovered in place to let the passengers experience zero gravity and see the incredible views of our planet.

Goodwin, from Newcastle, England, described being a passenger on Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight as ‘completely surreal’ and ‘very moving.’ 

‘It was far more dramatic than I imagined it would be. It was the pure acceleration – Mach 3 in eight-and-a-half seconds – (that) was completely surreal, and the re-entry was a lot more dramatic than I imagined.

‘In fact, I would’ve said it was out of control if I didn’t know anything different. But it was a completely surreal experience.

‘The most impressive thing was looking at Earth from space – the pure clarity was very moving. Without a doubt, the most exciting day in my life.’

Goodwin added the flight ‘exceeded [his] wildest dreams’ and hoped it would inspire others with Parkinson’s to do things out of the ordinary.

Schahaff won a place on the flight alongside her daughter.

The pair became the first astronauts from the Caribbean and were part of the first flight dominated by women.

‘I’m still up there, I’m not here yet, and it’s just amazing that you can land so smoothly on the runway coming back from space, Schahaff said:

‘It was so comfortable, it was really the best ride ever, and I would love to do this again.’

She said that sand from her home country of Antigua and Barbuda, the nation’s flag and her favorite shell were among the possessions she took with her on the Virgin Galactic flight.

Mayers took a ring given to her by her boyfriend and pictures of loved ones.

Goodwin reached in his pocket, pulling out jewelry from his wife Pauline, a former Olympian.

Pauline was at Spaceport Thursday to cheer on her husband, her son, grandson and daughter-in-law. 

Virgin Galactic’s first private customer flight had been delayed for years, but Thursday’s mission means Richard Branson’s company can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business. 

A mother and daughter from the Caribbean and an 80-year-old Olympian with Parkinson’s are set to become Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism crew.

The Richard Branson-founded company announced the trio Monday, who will soar to the final frontier on August 10.

Among the members are Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers, who won their seats in a 2021 contest and Jon Goodwin, who participated in the 1972 Munich Games.

The launch is planned for August 10 at Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico and will see the ‘mothership’ carrier plane take off with the spaceplane attached to its underbelly.

Once the planes reach at least 45,000 feet, the rocket plane will separate and travel more than 50 miles above Earth’s surface.

Virgin Galactic has already booked a backlog of 800 customers vying for their chance to go to space, which was made possible by the company’s inaugural mission in June.

Tickets were first sold for $250,000 but has since increased to $450,000. 

The company announced Galactic 02 on July 13 but did not reveal the customers who will board the spaceplane VSS Unity.

Virgin Galactic did send three researchers in June who spent the time in zero-gravity conducting research – August’s mission is purely for enjoyment. 

DailyMail.com takes a look at each of the three members on board the upcoming flight.

Keisha Schahaff

Schahaff, from Antigua, won a sweepstakes with Omaze, an American for-profit fundraising company, for a once-in-a-lifetime commercial trip to the final frontier aboard Virgin Galactic’s Unity.

The sweepstakes kicked off in July following Virgin Galactic’s historic mission that took Branson to space and finished on September 1.

Branson surprised Schahaff at her home in the Caribbean to personally award her the two seats.

Schahaff is a health and wellness coach specializing in helping women achieve balance through healthy eating, energy work, and a variety of empowering wellness practices, according to her website.

She also reveals on the site that she suffered from depression and set out on a journey for self-healing, and after overcoming the ailments, she embarked on a mission to help other women.

When I was two years old, just looking up to the skies, I thought, ‘How can I get there?’ But, being from the Caribbean, I didn’t see how something like this would be possible,’ Schahaff said in a Monday statement.

‘The fact that I am here, the first to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space really is becoming more accessible. 

‘I know my experience will change me, and I hope I can share that energy and inspire the people around me – in my role as a life coach, a mother, and an ambassador for our beautiful planet.’

Anastasia Mayers

Mayers, the second youngest person to travel to space, is one of Schahaff’s two daughters.

She is in her second year at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, studying Philosophy and Physics. 

Mayers is set on becoming an astrobiologist who thought living on the small island impossible until her mother won the tickets aboard Unity.

Jon Goodwin

Goodwin, from Great Britain, is an adventurer and the first Olympian to travel to space, having competed in the 1972 Munich Games.

He is a retired slalom canoeist, has been a regular and leading competitor in the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship since 1992, winning in 2000 and 2008, and has more Class wins than any other competitor – as of the end of the 2020 season.

Goodwin is married to Pauline, who also competed in the Olympic games in 1972 and 1976.

He also spent his life as a daredevil, winning races in the Arctic Circle and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Goodwin was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014 and has since been dedicated to raising awareness for the disease and the importance of research into finding a cure – and hopes that taking part in this mission will help shine a spotlight on the condition.

He has been vying for space for nearly a decade and almost gave up after receiving his diagnosis, thinking Virgin Galactic would not accept him – but that was not the case. 

‘When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014, I was determined not to let it stand in the way of living life to the fullest. I hope this inspires all others facing adversity,’ Goodwin shared in a statement Monday.

How Galactic 02 will take off

The crew will board Unity, attached to the mothership Eve, which will shoot down the runway and take off toward the skies.

Unity will then ignite its thruster and shut off once it reaches space.

At the apex of the flight, the spaceplane is expected to ‘feather’ its wings open and hover above our planet’s atmosphere, allowing the crew to experience weightlessness and epic views of the final frontier for a few minutes.

Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin use rockets to launch capsules into space, while Branson chose to take a different approach with mid-air launches.

Branson’s technique has been explored over several decades of flight research, including the X-1, the first plane to break the sound barrier, and the X-15, the fastest-piloted aircraft ever flown, topping out at 4,520 miles an hour during a 1967 flight.

And it reduces the need for massive amounts of fuel since the craft is not using force from the rocket to crawl through the dense lower atmosphere.

This is the moment the crew on board Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane celebrated with a fist-bump during the company’s first commercial mission.

Italian researcher Walter Villadei and the company’s astronaut instructor Colin Bennett shared a celebratory moment inside the craft that left Earth’s atmosphere and soared to the edge of space to conduct science experiments in weightless conditions.

It is a landmark moment for Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Richard Branson in 2004 with the goal of offering commercial space flights – a feat that has taken just shy of 20 years to achieve.

Today marked the company’s first ‘purchased’ mission, instead of just a test flight. The 90-minute mission took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at around 8.30am local time.

The rocket plane, known as Unity, was strapped to a ‘mothership’ a carrier aircraft called VMS Eve. 

Eve is a type of carrier plane that took Unity 44,500 feet above Earth’s surface to release it.

Unity ignited its thruster and shut off once it reached space.

At the apex of the flight, the spaceplane ‘feathered’ its wings open and hovered above our planet’s atmosphere, allowing the men to experience weightlessness and epic views of the final frontier for a few minutes.

The crew also held an Italian flag as they floated inside the cabin. 

‘Welcome to space, astronauts,’ Virgin Galactic’s Sirisha Bandla said in a livestream. 

The mission, dubbed Galactic 01, landed back on the New Mexico runway at 11:50.

Also onboard for the epic journey were Pantaleone Carlucci and Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi.

Unlike Branson’s rivals, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, this flight was not crewed by wealthy individuals or celebrities who dish out hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for the experience.

The focus of the Galactic 01 mission was to test 13 experiments in zero gravity, which collected biometric data, measured cognitive performance and recorded how certain liquids and solids mix in microgravity conditions. 

And the three Italian researchers did not pay for their seats.

The cost for future tickets was originally slated as $250,000 each, though Virgin Galactic recently raised that price to $450,000. 

Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin also use rockets to launch capsules into space, while Branson chose to take a different approach with mid-air launches. 

Once Virgin Galactic’s planes reach an altitude of about 45,000 feet, the mothership will release the spaceplane, which will then shoot off to the final frontier. 

The technique has been explored over several decades of flight research, including the X-1, the first plane to break the sound barrier, and the X-15, the fastest-piloted aircraft ever flown, topping out at 4,520 miles an hour during a 1967 flight.

And it reduces the need for massive amounts of fuel since the craft is not using force from the rocket to crawl through the dense lower atmosphere. 

Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane was powered by two pilots while the four passengers sat in the cabin bracing for space.

For Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, designated as commander, the flight aboard the spaceplane was part of his astronaut training for a future mission to the International Space Station. 

Joining him on Thursday were two Italian colleagues – Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, a physician and flight surgeon, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a research council member acting as a flight engineer and payload specialist.

Rounding out the crew was their Virgin Galactic trainer, Colin Bennett, the company’s lead ‘astronaut instructor,’ and Unity’s two pilots, Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile.

One of the Italian researchers was wearing a special suit that measures biometric data and physiological responses, while another conducted tests using sensors to track heart rate, brain function and other metrics while in microgravity. 

And the third studied how certain liquids and solids mix in that very weak gravity.

The gleaming white spaceplane is designed to separate from its dual-fuselage mothership, then fall away as the pilots ignite the vehicle’s engine to send the rocket plane streaking in a near-vertical climb at about three times the speed of sound to the blackness of space.

At the apex of the flight, the crew experienced a few minutes of weightlessness with the engine shut off before the craft shifted into re-entry mode and glided back to the spaceport for a runway landing. 

The flight, from takeoff to touchdown, lasted about 90 minutes.

Branson became the first billionaire in space when he took the maiden voyage of the VSS Unity on July 11, 2021.

The Virgin Galactic founder was one of six Virgin Galactic employees aboard VSS Unity.

However, the spaceplane was grounded shortly after the flight due to an investigation when it veered off course during its descent back to the runway in the New Mexico desert.

Branson became the first billionaire in space when he took the maiden voyage of the VSS Unity on July 11, 2021.

The Virgin Galactic founder was one of six Virgin Galactic employees aboard VSS Unity.

However, the spaceplane was grounded shortly after the flight due to an investigation when it veered off course during its descent back to the runway in the New Mexico desert.

In September 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight.

The FAA, which oversees commercial air and spaceflight in the US, found the spaceplane ‘deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance’ and did so for about a minute and 41 seconds.

Branson and his team have since worked out the issue and recently sent a test crew of four employees 54.2 miles above Earth’s surface in May, paving the way for Virgin Galactic’s first commercial, Galactic 01.

By Andrea Cavallier, Senior Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Updated: 10:17 EDT, 29 June 2023

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Richard Branson is set to become the latest billionaire to enter the space tourism race, trailing behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Branson’s Virgin Galactic is gearing up to send four people who paid $200,000 each at least 250,000 feet above Earth’s surface Thursday, marking the company’s maiden commercial flight.

However, Musk and Bezos have launched paying customers to the final frontier over the past two years. 

The ‘space barons,’ with a combined net worth of $379.3 billion, are vying for galactic supremacy – and only time will tell who will take the crown.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson

Virgin Galactic takes a different approach to conquer space with a plane that attaches to a larger carrier craft and releases at a certain altitude.

Branson’s most high-profile and catastrophic space launch failure occurred in 2014, when Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed in California’s Mojave Desert, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold. 

The craft was flying a manned test when it split into pieces.

Investigators later concluded that the crash was caused by structural failure after Alsbury unlocked a braking system early.

At the time, Branson said he was ‘shocked and saddened’ by the ‘tragic loss.’

Two minor hiccups in 2016 involved attempts to carry out the first glide flight for the company’s VSS Unity space plane.

Branson became the first billionaire in space when he took the maiden voyage of the VSS Unity on July 11, 2021.

The Virgin Galactic founder was one of six Virgin Galactic employees aboard VSS Unity.

However, the spaceplane was grounded shortly after the flight due to an investigation when it veered off course during its descent back to the runway in the New Mexico desert.

In September 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight.

The FAA, which oversees commercial air and spaceflight in the US, found the spaceplane ‘deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance’ and did so for about a minute and 41 seconds.

Branson and his team have since worked out the issue and recently sent a test crew of four employees 54.2 miles above Earth’s surface in May, paving the way for Virgin Galactic’s first commercial mission, ‘Galactic 01,’ on Thursday.

The crew includes Col. Walter Villadei, Pantaleone Carlucci, Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi and Colin Bennett, plus two Virgin Galactic staff who also be on the spaceplane.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk

Musk recently shared that his childhood love for science fiction inspired him to look beyond our planet, along with Sergey Korolev – an engineer who helped the Soviet Union beat the U.S. in the race to space during the Cold War.

SpaceX was founded in 2002, launching the Falcon 1 in 2006 and the first Falcon 9 in 2010, which was designed much less than competing rockets.

Musk’s reusable rockets were then used to ferry the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver cargo in 2012.

And it was not until 2020 did SpaceX take its first humans aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. 

On May 30, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley took off from Cape Canaveral for the ISS – the first time in nearly a decade that an American crew had launched from US soil to space.

The feat pushed Musk into the private space exploration sector, allowing SpaceX to send Inspiration4  – a team of four civilians – into Earth’s orbit for three days in September 2021.

And SpaceX has six civilian astronauts with Aximos to the ISS.

SpaceX was awarded a $1.4 billion NASA contract in 2022 for five more astronaut launches to the ISS, a previous one in 2021 for $178 million to ‘launch services’ for the Europa Clipper mission heading to Jupiter.

And Musk’s company is also working on its Starship human landing system for the Artemis moon mission. 

SpaceX has also been sending batches of 60 satellites into space to help form its Starlink network, which has grown to more than 3,900 satellites that 1.5 million subscribers access.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos

Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 to chase down a childhood dream of spaceflight and building a society of millions living and working in space.

In a 1982 Miami Herald interview after being named valedictorian of his high school, the then 18-year-old said he wanted ‘to build space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for two or three million people who would be in orbit.’

‘The whole idea is to preserve the earth,’ he told the newspaper … The goal was to be able to evacuate humans. The planet would become a park.’

The idea of Blue Origin came about in 1999 after Bezos watched the film October Sky, a movie about a school kid who wanted to build rockets, and the aerospace company was born just one year later.

The company’s New Shepard rocket is named in honor of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space.

It took 15 years before Bezos’ company made its first successful launch and landing of New Shepard – it had taken off and returned 21 times during that period.

On July 20, 2021, the billionaire, his brother Mark, Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen – the youngest person in space – and former NASA trainee Wally Funk, 82, 66 miles above Earth’s surface.  

Blue Origin has since launched 27 people to the edge of space, including famed Star Trek celebrity William Shatner.

And Bezos’ company was aware of a $3.4 billion contract with NASA in May that put him one small step closer to putting a man on the moon.

Blue Origin has been vague regarding its moon lander proposal, aside from namechecking its corporate partners: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, the spacecraft software firm Draper, and robotics firm Astrobotic.