Virgin Galactic astronauts describe "surreal" spaceflight



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It was Virgin Galactic's second revenue-generating flight, Whitesides told CNBC. Thanks to NASA payloads aboard this flight and the previous flight in December, his company is already starting to reap the rewards of their efforts.

"Now we can fly fast, and we think it's really exciting for science and that, obviously, it's also a great thing for our company," Whitesides said.

One of the benefits of using reusable spaceflight quickly is that users can access their experiences and technologies immediately after landing and can view their data a few minutes after landing. " -he adds.

The Branson company is now one step ahead of fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos in the space tourism industry. Blue Origin of Bezos is in the final phase of testing its New Shepard rocket. He recently spoke to the nascent competition, claiming that "one of the problems that Virgin Galactic must solve" is that they do not fly over the Karman line, not yet. "The Karman Line has 100 kilometers of altitude, an internationally recognized space limit.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo flies over 80 kilometers, a limit the US military and NASA use to recognize astronauts. Asked about these different definitions, Whitesides highlighted the opportunity offered by Virgin Galactic.

"I think that there are people who would like to fly, and who recognize that the only other way to do this now is to fly with the Russians and pay between 50 and 70 million dollars per seat," he said. Whitesides.

"So, the idea that you can go into space for hundreds of thousands of dollars is unbelievable.This is part of the revolution that is happening in the space while we do it. the costs by order of magnitude, "he added.

"The opening of the space will require a lot of companies and innovations," Whitesides said. "We have to make more people fly because we think that sending a lot of people into space will have a profound impact on the Earth."

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