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Two months after the inaugural space flight, the space unit of Virgin Galactic, Unity, has done it again.
This is the first time that Virgin Galactic transports three human beings to the edge of space. During previous test flights, both pilots were the only ones inside the spacecraft. The Virgin Galactic Unity spacecraft can accommodate up to six pbadengers with both pilots. With more than 600 potential astronauts in the company, Moses' work is essential in preparing Virgin Galactic for commercial operations. Tickets for Virgin Galactic flights are priced at $ 250,000 each.
Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael "Sooch" Masucci of Virgin Galactic also became astronauts, the test flight having reached an altitude of 55.9 km, or nearly 90 km. MacKay, Masucci and Moses join a list of less than 600 human beings who have flown in space.
The United States officially considers pilots who have traveled more than 80 kilometers as astronauts. After Virgin Galactic's first successful space flight in December, the Ministry of Transport rewarded pilots Mark Stucky and C.J Sturckow with commercial astronaut wings – only the third and fourth of these people being recognized as private astronauts.
Unity also transported payloads funded by NASA for this mission. As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities program, four experiments were conducted aboard the spacecraft. NASA said most of these same experiments had flown during the first space flight of Unity, while two others had also been launched during Blue Origin's rocket flight in January.
"Regular access to reduced gravity allows researchers to collect the data needed to mature their technologies for use in far-flung spaces," NASA said in a statement.
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