Virgin Galactic launches 2 pilots, 4 passengers to the edge of space and back

Virgin Galactic launches 2 pilots, 4 passengers to the edge of space and back

Benjamin Hughes

Two pilots, a Turkish research astronaut and three private citizens rocketed to space and back Saturday aboard Virgin Galactic‘s Unity spaceplane, enjoying spectacular views of Earth and about three minutes of weightlessness before gliding back to touchdown in New Mexico.

It was the company’s 12th piloted up-and-down sub-orbital flight, its seventh with paying customers aboard and the final flight of Unity as Virgin develops its more capable Delta spaceplanes, expected to begin commercial operations in 2026.

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Virgin Galactic’s Unity rocket plane races out of the lower atmosphere, carrying two pilots and four passengers, including Turkey’s second professional astronaut, to the edge of space in the company’s seventh commercial spaceflight.

Virgin Galactic


With veteran pilot Nicola Pecile and rookie Jameel Janjua at the controls, Unity was carried aloft from New Mexico’s Spaceport America by Virgin Galactic’s twin-fuselage ferry ship, Eve, taking off at 10:31 a.m. EDT.

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William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.

Source: cbsnews.com