Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists – a mother and daughter and Olympian – blast off
Virgin Galactic‘s first commercial space flight took off from New Mexico today and successfully carried three passengers to the edge of the cosmos.
The company’s rocket-powered space plane, VSS Unity, carried three customers – a mother and daughter from Antigua who won their seats in a fundraising drawing and an 80-year-old former British Olympian who paid $250,000 for his seat in 2005.
The historic flight took off from at Virgin Galactic’s spaceport in New Mexico at 10.30am ET, where the passengers boarded VSS Unity as it sat attached beneath the wing of a massive twin-fuselage mothership called VMS Eve.
The takeoff was like any other airplane takeoff, with the mothership speeding down a runway before ascending to more than 40,000 feet. At that point, VMS Eve released the spaceship, which fired its rocket engine and continued its ascent to more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.
As the crew reached the edge of space, one crew member gave a cool thumbs up to the camera before everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and floated around in zero gravity.
The team then huddled around the ship’s windows in awe and took in our planet’s views for a few minutes before re-entry into the atmosphere. All in, the mission lasted an hour.
One crew member gave the thumbs up after the carrier plane released the ship, which continued its ascent to over 50 miles above Earth.
Anastatia Mayers takes in the incredible views in space. She soared 50 miles above Earth’s surface with her mother
Pictured is the moment the spaceplane and mothership separated during the spaceflight
The flight was historic for several reasons. Keisha Schahaff, 46 and her daughter Anastatia Mayers, 18, were the first Antiguans to go to space.
Former canoeist Jon Goodwin is the first Olympian to become an astronaut and only the second person in history with Parkinson’s 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’s that has been decades in the making.
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 landind. ‘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.
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 to become an astrobiologist.
But 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.
When Goodwin stepped out of the spaceplane and back on the ground, Pauline ran over to hug him.
The crew of the VSS Unity gave the thumbs up after the carrier plane released the ship, which continued its ascent to over 50 miles above Earth
The crew strapped inside the spaceplane as they traveled to space
The former Olympian 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.
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 sold for $250,000 but have since increased to $450,000.
The crew took off from the hangar in sleek Rang Rover vehicles and headed to the launch pad less than one mile away to where Unity and Eve, the mothership, had been waiting.
The spaceplane took the crew 50 miles above Earth’s surface. Pictured is the moment the rocket ignited its thrusters to separate from the mothership
Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists hugged their friends and family during the ‘hero walk’ before traveling to the Spaceport launch pad for their epic trip to the final frontier
Schahaff won two seats in a sweepstakes and chose her daughter to join her. The mission marked the first time a mother-daughter duo flew into space together
Goodwin is a former Olympic canoeist who competed in the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972
DailyMail.com witnessed Eve and Unity pilot down the runway at 10:30 am ET, taking off into the blue sky over New Mexico.
Once the planes reached the target altitude, Unity ignited its thrusters that left trails of white smoke behind as it climbed mile-by-mile until it disappeared from view.
At the apex of the flight, the spaceplane ‘feathered’ its wings open and hovered above our planet’s atmosphere, allowing the crew to experience weightlessness and incredible views of the final frontier for a few minutes.
Unity was specifically designed to reach the boundary of space as defined by the US Air Force and NASA by going over 50 miles above sea level.
The spaceplane features 17 windows that provide passengers with an incredible view of planet Earth as they float by for a few precious minutes.
Once VSS Unity re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it glided back to the runway it took off from, allowing passengers to greet their families again.
When the new astronauts returned to Earth, all three raved about the incredible moment in space.
‘I have no words. The only thought I had the entire time was wow,’ Mayers told reporters.
The mission, ‘dubbed Galactic 02,’ is another milestone for spaceflight, allowing civilians to experience what was once only a dream for them.
The crew has become very close since they started training for the spaceflight. Meyers checked in with Goodwin during the hero walk to make sure he was ok and ready to go
Goodwin’s family attended the spaceflight. From right, wife Pauline, son David, grandson, son Paul and daughter-in-law Lily watch toward the tarmac of Spaceport America
Branson was not present at the launch but was in Antigua with Schahaff and Mayers’ family to celebrate the launch.
Goodwin, from Great Britain, is an adventurer and the first Olympian to travel to space, having competed in the 1972 Munich Games
The space tourists were all smiles during their hero walk where they hugged friends and family before heading to the spaceplane
Three Virgin Galactic employees also took flight Thursday: Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Kelly Latimer and Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses.
Galactic 02 follows Galactic 01, which successfully reached orbit at the end of June.
Virgin Galactic has referred to Galactic 01 as the firm’s first ‘commercial flight,’ but it was a research mission, and no paying customers were aboard.
Galactic 01 carried astronauts from the Italian Air Force, the Italian National Research Council, and the Virgin Galactic crew 52.9 miles above Earth.
Branson himself made the same trip along with five crewmates in July 2021 – which the founder called an ‘experience of a lifetime.’
The billionaire, who was 70 then, became the second oldest person to travel to space after 77-year-old John Glenn in 1998.
Virgin Galactic plans monthly flights to space after the Galactic 02 launch to ensure paying customers get their reward as soon as possible.
The firm is yet to reveal who will fly on Galactic 03 or when exactly it will happen, as a lot depends on the success of today’s launch.