Items tagged with Richard Branson
On Sunday, Virgin Galactic founder and owner Richard Branson took off to the edge of space with several other specialists from Virgin Galactic. Now that he has returned, Branson announced “something very exciting to give more people a chance to become astronauts”: a giveaway for two seats on a Virgin Galactic flight to space. After returning to Earth, Sir Richard Branson took the stage yesterday to describe his flight and explain the importance of spaceflight. In this, he announced anyone could have the chance to win two seats on a Virgin Galactic flight sometime in 2022. You can see his announcement video below: Space is for all humanity, which is why we're giving YOU the chance...
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Many people have dreamed of going to space, and relatively few among the overall population ever get the opportunity. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, is getting his chance today,and you can watch the livestream of his trip right here. Weather conditions prompted about a 90-minute delay from the scheduled takeoff, but it is still happening. The livestream is hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert, but make no mistake, this is no joke. Branson, a 70-year-old billionaire, founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 with the goal of providing suborbital flights to space tourists. It has been a long wait, but obviously this not the sort of thing you can rush. Barring any setbacks, there are three test...
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Virgin Galactic may be most famous for the eccentric brain behind the company – Richard Branson – and its efforts to bring space tourism to life with its SpaceShipTwo. However, Branson and Virgin Galactic are looking to leverage the technology and experience that they have gathered from its space ventures and bring it down to commercial aviation: hence the announcement of a new supersonic jet. But we’re not talking about a jet that just barely breaks the sound barrier; instead, this [currently] unnamed design concept has a projected top speed of Mach 3, which is even higher than the now-retired Mach 2 Concorde. To put that in perspective, the famed Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird...
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Virgin Galactic's spaceport, Spaceport America, has christened its first runway. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) on Saturday dedicated the nearly two-mile long "Governor Bill Richardson Spaceway" at Spaceport America with Governor Bill Richardson, Sir Richard Branson and about 30 of more than 380 Virgin Galactic future astronauts in attendance. Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo mothership, with SpaceShipTwo, AKA the VSS Enterprise, in a captive carry, performed a flyover of the spaceway before landing. Spaceport America is about 25 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences, NM. The rest of the facilities at Spaceport America in New Mexico are still under construction. At least, however,...
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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, AKA the VSS Enterprise, reached a major milestone on Sunday when it achieved free flight, achieving itsfirst piloted gliding flight. Released at 45,000 feet by its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo AKA Eve, VSS Enterprise touched down some 11 minutes afterward. The spacecraft was not equipped with a rocket motor for the test. The VSS Enterprise was piloted by Pete Siebold, with Mike Alsbury as co-pilot. In a press release, Siebold, said "The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders."...
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