Billionaire Richard Branson reaches space in his own ship

AP ^ | July 11, 2021 | SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and MARCIA DUNN

[outofsalt]

He parachuted back to earth in a supersonic freefall.
https://youtu.be/FHtvDA0W34I
Viewed 45,000,000 times

[GMThrust]

Nearly 71 years old. So he’s 70. Love the “journalists” today.

[dforest]

Okay, big deal, thanks.

[TexasFreeper2009]

that’s so odd, when I goggled it earlier it gave me that number, but it appears the record is actually much higher like you said, but still much lower than Branson flew today.

[CodeToad]

“Yes, but “he didn’t build it.”

Yes, but final assembly was in the USA. so it’s ours.

[Fireone]

Don’t sell ‘em short, Cubans drove a ‘52 Buick from their north coast to Miami.
I haven’t seen Americans doing it the other direction, lol!

[RicocheT]

I watched to video live and loved it all. Branson has done a good thing with his space ride and satellite launch company. Also, credit Burt Rutan with the design of the mother ship that carried the space plane.

[Vermont Lt]

It was by the standards NASA uses. That’s fine with me.

How do you define “space”?

[Vermont Lt]

It was fun to watch, but the rest of the show reminded me of a time share sales pitch.

[Red Badger]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_altitude_record#Balloons

[SunkenCiv]

Scott Manley's pre-flight coverage includes an excellent discussion of the Karman line, and how Branson's ship does indeed reach space. Fly safe.

July is going to see both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin send passengers to space on suborbital hops, and with a last minute tweak to the schedule its looks like Richard Branson is going to be the first founder to fly on their own spacecraft.

However, Blue Origin announced that one of their passengers is aviation legend Wally Funk who was at one point well positioned to be an astronaut, except that NASA's rules made it impossible for women to qualify.

When she flies she'll be the oldest astronaut at 82 years old, she'll also have more flight experience than anyone currently in space.

Richard Branson Tries To Beat Jeff Bezos To Space, But Jeff's Final Passenger Is Amazing Choice | Scott Manley | July 3, 2021

[SunkenCiv]

There were 8 flights to the ISS between 2001 and 2009 carrying private spaceflight participants, or, Space Tourists. Nobody has flown since then except for a couple of suborbital hops on Virgin Galactic. Now the prospect of space tourism is back in force with 4 flights scheduled to orbit and more on the horizon carrying a dozen participants to one of the most exclusive destinations.

Space Tourism Reborn : Twelve People Will Fly To Space In The Next 12 Months! | Scott Manley | May 14, 2021

[Red Badger]

Competition is good...........................

[SunkenCiv]

Branson’s still a creep (remark about SpaceshipTwo pilot who died, supports global warming hoax, anti-Brexit, warm friend of Obama and Google’s Larry Page), but he has impeccable business sense, and recognized Rutan’s genius design and continued to fund development after Rutan himself retired.

[Red Badger]

Why are most billionaires nuts?..............

[SunkenCiv]

They’re not nuts, they’re just not as smart as they seem to think they are, and they have far too much devotion to the myths of their own superior ability and/or work ethic.

[SunkenCiv]

Richard Branson has beat his billionaire rivals into space, successfully launching and landing on Virgin Galactic's Unity 22 mission -- watch the historic flight here.

Watch Richard Branson fly to space (Virgin Galactic Unity22 supercut) | CNET | July 11, 2021

[usconservative]

Cheesy stunt. I got more thrills from Evil Kneivel.

Cheesy stunt narrated by a knee-pad-wearing liberal media who couldn't wait to kiss Bezos' .... er, uh, ass.

[SunkenCiv]

The billionaire is now the first person to reach the edge of space in his own personal spacecraft.

Richard Branson makes historic spaceflight | ABC News | July 11, 2021