Virgin Galactic Unity 22

Virgin Galactic Unity 22 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which launched on 11 July 2021.[1] (See Virgin Galactic.)

The crew were pilots David Mackay and Michael Masucci as well as passengers Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, and Richard Branson.[2]

On 7 June 2021, Jeff Bezos announced that he is planning to be on the first crewed flight of his company Blue Origin.[3] In the following days, rumors began to spread that Richard Branson was filing paperwork to make a similar flight, beating Bezos. The fight between Branson and Bezos led the media to call it a "billionaire space race". However, shortly before the flight, Bezos offered well wishes to Branson.[4] SpaceX founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk personally met with Branson shortly before the flight.[5]

Outside restricted airspace

The rocket plane Unity flew outside restricted airspace; That happened for 1 minute and 41 seconds. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated in September 2021;[6] the plane was not allowed to fly until the investigation finished.[7] The SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes were allowed to fly again on September 29, after the FAA decided to expand (or make larger) the restricted aerospace around the vehicle's flight range.[8]

Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Media

References

  1. "Virgin Galactic Announces First Fully Crewed Spaceflight". Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  2. "Introducing Virgin Galactic Unity 22 Crew". YouTube. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  3. "Jeff Bezos Will Go to Space on Blue Origin's First Crewed Flight". Scientific American.
  4. "Jeff Bezos offers well wishes to Richard Branson ahead of space launch". 11 July 2021.
  5. "Elon Musk showed up in Richard Branson's kitchen at 3 a.m. To wish him luck flying to the edge of space". Business Insider.
  6. Shepardson, David (2021-09-02). "U.S. aviation agency probes Branson's Virgin Galactic flight deviation" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-faa-probing-virgin-galactic-july-11-flight-deviation-2021-09-01/. Retrieved 2022-02-06. 
  7. Shepardson, David (2021-09-02). U.S. bars Virgin Galactic rocket plane flights pending mishap probe. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-bars-virgin-galactic-rocket-plane-flights-pending-mishap-probe-2021-09-02/. 
  8. Foust, Jeff (2021-09-29). "FAA clears Virgin Galactic to resume SpaceShipTwo flights".

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