Virgin Galactic pilots join an elite group of commercial astronauts

Thunderous applause invaded the US Department of Transportation's atrium yesterday, as Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao pinned golden insignia on Mark Stucky's "Forger" and Frederick "CJ" Sturckow's space flight combinations. , symbolizing the fact that each pilot had earned his commercial astronaut wings.

The ceremony was held in the atrium of the US Department of Transportation, Washington, DC.

The ceremony, attended by teachers and school children from the Washington, DC area, was held to commemorate the historic flight the couple had made late last year. Early in the morning of December 13, the two men boarded the VSS Unity, a space plane owned by the Virgin Galactic space tourism company, and drove the vehicle at a height of 82.7 kilometers (82.7 km) above the Mojave Desert in California, just past the border. of space. While Sturckow was already in space as a NASA astronaut, it was Stucky's first space flight, a former test pilot and commercial airline pilot.

"I was surprised by the clarity of the Earth," I later told Stucky about the flight. "I was expecting to see great distances, but he jumped on it like it was an ultra high definition display."

The actual time they had spent in space was short – just minutes – but when they climbed 50 miles in a utility vehicle, they qualified for the Federal Aviation Administration's commercial astronaut wings. . Only two other people received this designation: Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, who both flew in a vehicle called SpaceShipOne in 2004. NASA and the US Air Force also give wings to their staff who cross the same distance 50 miles, denoting this altitude: the place where the Earth 's atmosphere crumbles and the space begins. However, not everyone recognizes this as the limit of space. The World Air Sports Federation, for example, recognizes a space limit of 62 miles (100 km), although the organization is considering a change based on new research.

After receiving their wings, Stucky and Sturckow met students and signed autographs.

But Virgin Galactic is based in the United States and, in their eyes, this was the first time the company has accessed the space in 14 years of history. It was also the first time since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 that American astronauts were heading to space from US soil (although they did not reach orbit). "We are all really on the shoulders of giants," said Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, during a speech.

Virgin Galactic hopes to be able to do it again and again, possibly with pbadengers in tow. The company specializes in space tourism and has sold more than 600 tickets to customers wishing to travel in space with pilots such as Stucky and Sturckow. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who spoke at the ceremony, expressed hope that more people will follow in the footsteps of the pair. "Now, I only hope that there will be thousands of others – that even you, among this audience, will one day stand here," he said.

But the zero-g celebration also had some serious moments. McCarthy, Branson and Chao all acknowledged in speeches before the badge ceremony that Virgin Galactic had a bumpy road to get to this point. More than four years ago, a Virgin Galactic space plane, the VSS Enterprise, crashed during a powered flight test in an attempt to gain space. One of the pilots of the plane, Michael Alsbury, died and another pilot, Peter Siebold, was seriously injured during the accident.

In fact, the Stucky and Sturckow ceremony coincided yesterday with NASA's Remembrance Day, during which the space agency pays tribute to all the astronauts who have died in search of space. The day usually takes place the last week of January or the first week of February to commemorate the Challenger, Columbia and Apollo 1 tragedies, all of which took place one week apart. But because of the recent government shutdown, NASA had to postpone it until yesterday.

It was a strange timing, but most of the great achievements of spaceflight often serve as moments of reflection. And those at Virgin Galactic said they were proud of how the team progressed after the defeat. "It was a very difficult time for the company," said George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, later. "But the team did a great job of rallying."

After the ceremony, Stucky and Sturckow hung out to sign autographs and take pictures with students. They then moved quickly to attend another event at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Virgin Galactic decided to donate the hybrid rocket engine that carried Stucky and Sturckow into the Smithsonian space.

"This is a very beautiful story that the public needs to know, and frankly an inspiration," said Ellen Stofan, director of the National Museum of Air and Space and former chief scientist at the NASA. "And we need more children involved in STEM. Being able to tell stories like Virgin Galactic inspires me the next generation. "

The praise of the ceremony was not over yet. A representative from Guinness World Records arrived at the museum's dedication ceremony to let Virgin Galactic know that it was receiving the most powerful hybrid engine award for a crewed flight. For Stucky, the rewards were good, but he said he was proud of what flying ultimately represented. "For me, this is to show that we have an excellent spaceship, but not only to go personally to space for the first time," he said in an interview. "I plan to do it a few times. So it was really satisfying to know that the vehicle was doing what it was designed for. "

Now he and Sturckow are eager to bring people with them. "Once you have been in space yourself, one of the most fun things you can do is take some other place and share it with him," Sturckow said. Stucky said he had already flown jetliners, but he was not really happy to be there. "The majority of the pbadengers on these flights were there to go from point A to point B, they were not there because they really wanted to fly," he said. "It will be different."

Stucky presented Branson with a shirt with the title "Future Astronaut". Branson then decided that the best time to try it was to do it immediately.

Virgin is not ready for pbadenger flights yet. The company is preparing for another test flight in the coming weeks in the Mojave Desert. And the company will also begin to equip the interior of the space plane for its customers and to simulate its experience. "We have to make sure that we test these procedures and that they all work properly," said Whitesides. And when the team is ready, she will head to the Virgin Galactic spaceport in New Mexico, before commercial operations. The chronology of all this is unclear, although Branson said he hoped to fly on VSS Unity on the anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 Moon, which will take place on July 20th.

Stucky and Stucky will not participate in the next test flight, but Sturckow said that the next time he flew, he would try to appreciate his mission, even in the short time he has left. "This flight was very fast and a lot of things were happening," he said. "I wanted to take this detail into account and seize this moment, but I did not really have the opportunity to appreciate it. So I'm looking forward to flying again. "

Photograph of Loren Grush / The Verge