Decades after burnishing his reputation as สล็อตออนไลน์ a wealthy daredevil mogul in a series of boating and hot-air balloon expeditions, Richard Branson is poised to promote his burgeoning astro-tourism venture by launching himself to the final frontier.
Branson's Virgin Galactic Holding is due on Sunday (Jul 11) to send the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, on its first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space, with the British billionaire founder among the six individuals strapping in for the ride.
The gleaming white spaceplane will be borne by a twin-fuselage carrier jet dubbed VMS Eve (named for Branson's mother) to an altitude of 50,000 feet, where Unity will be released and soar by rocket power in an almost vertical climb through the outer fringe of Earth's atmosphere.
At the apex of its flight about 89 km above the New Mexico desert, the crew will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before making a gliding descent back to Earth.
If all goes according to plan, the flight will last about 90 minutes and end where it began - on a runway at Spaceport America near the aptly named town of Truth or Consequences.
Virgin's Unity 22 mission marks the 22nd test flight of the spacecraft, and the company's fourth crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere.
But it will be the first to carry a full complement of space travelers – two pilots and four "mission specialists", Branson among them.