Spacewalking is the new domain of the super rich as a billionaire makes first private attempt First came space tourism. Now comes an even bigger thrill for the monied masses: spacewalking. A tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth on Thursday, a high-risk endeavor reserved for professional astronauts — until now. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman teamed up with SpaceX to test the company’s brand new spacesuits on his chartered flight. The daring feat also saw SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis going out once Isaacman was safely back inside. This spacewalk was simple and quick — the hatch was open barely a half hour — compared with the drawn-out affairs conducted by NASA. Astronauts at the International Space Station often need to move acr...
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Crew members include former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight, the first US Black astronaut candidate Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin will resume flights to space on Sunday, ending a near two-year pause of crewed operations following a 2022 mission failure. The NS-25 mission will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas, with the launch window for the flight starting at 0830 CT (1330 GMT), the company said on Tuesday. The New Shepard rocket, which flies cargo and humans on short trips to the edge of space, has been grounded since a September 2022 uncrewed mission failed roughly a minute after liftoff from Texas, forcing the rocket's capsule full of NASA experiments to safely eject mid-flight. FILE PHOTO: A helicopter flies over a building featuring Blue Origin's logo as rocket New ...
Read MoreSpace Perspective unveils first-ever space spa as part of its spaceship Neptune capsule interior World's First Carbon-Neutral Spaceflight Experience company, offers a safe and gentle journey with no rockets or training required Inside a pressurized capsule for eight explorers, a one-of-a-kind restroom provides a serene and spa-like sanctuary during a transformative six-hour flight Space Perspective, the world's first carbon-neutral spaceflight experience company, today unveiled the custom design for its restroom – a first-ever Space Spa. Space Perspective has completely reimagined human spaceflight with an innovative spacecraft (Spaceship Neptune) that features a pressurized capsule propelled slowly to the edge of space by a giant SpaceBalloon. Spaceship Neptune Tucked in...
Read MoreIncludes an Olympian who brought ticket 18 years ago, and a mother-daughter duo Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The rocket-powered VSS Unity craft dropped from the carrier plane over New Mexico around 9:20 a.m. local time and blasted its four passengers, a company instructor and three tourists, to an altitude of roughly 55 miles (88.51 km). Virgin Galactic's mothership Eve, carrying the rocket-powered plane Unity 22, takes off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton) The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico dese...
Read MoreVirgin Galactic rocket plane poised for first commercial flight to edge of space
A twin-fuselage jet stood ready on Thursday to carry a Virgin Galactic rocket plane with a three-man crew from Italy into the New Mexico sky for a high-altitude launch of the company's first flight of paying customers to the edge of space. The two Italian air force colonels and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy were due to join their Virgin Galactic instructor and the spaceplane's two pilots on a suborbital ride expected to take the six men about 50 miles (80 km) above the desert floor. The flight marks a decisive moment for Virgin Galactic Holding Inc, the space tourism venture founded by British billionaire Richard Branson in 2004, as it inaugurates commercial service following several years fraught with development setbacks. FILE PHOTO: Virgin G...
Read MoreSpace-tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings said on Monday that a four-member test flight will take place in May and that it aims to launch its first commercial flight in late June. Shares jumped 4% after the company said the May mission would be the final test of the spaceflight system and astronaut experience before it opens up for commercial services. FILE PHOTO: Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic crew members enter the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, in a still image from undated handout video taken at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, U.S. Virgin Galactic/Handout via REUTERS. The company, backed by billionaire Richard Branson, had in May last year delayed its commercial service to the first quarter of 2023 due to supply-chain cris...
Read MoreBillionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX said on Wednesday that the world's first space tourist Dennis Tito and his wife Akiko have signed up to fly around the moon on the space exploration firm's Starship rocket. Engineer turned financial analyst Tito, 82, was the first private individual to pay for a trip to space on Russia's Soyuz TM-32 mission in 2001, when he spent nearly eight days aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX flight's roughly week-long journey will see the rocket travel within 200 kilometers of the moon without landing on its surface. FILE PHOTO : Starship prototypes are pictured at the SpaceX South Texas launch site near Brownsville, Texas, U.S., May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas Tito and his wife are the first crewmembers to be announced for Stars...
Read MoreVirgin Galactic Holdings Inc will delay the launch of its commercial space flight service to the first quarter of 2023, the space tourism company said on Thursday, citing supply chain crisis and labor constraints. Due to this announcement, Virgin Galactic could be potentially left behind in emerging space tourism market. Shares of the company fell nearly 2% in extended trading. "We look forward to returning to space in the fourth quarter and launching commercial service in the first quarter of next year," Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier said. FILE PHOTO: Richard Branson stands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the start of trading in Virgin Galactic in New York, Oct. 28, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid The Richard Branson-founded company had earlie...
Read MoreThe first all-private team of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS) were welcomed aboard the orbiting research platform on Saturday to begin a weeklong science mission hailed as a milestone in commercial spaceflight. Their arrival came about 21 hours after the four-man team representing Houston-based startup company Axiom Space Inc lifted off on Friday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, riding atop a SpaceX-launched Falcon 9 rocket. The Crew Dragon capsule lofted into orbit by the rocket docked with the ISS at about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Saturday as the two space vehicles were flying roughly 250 miles (420 km) above the central Atlantic Ocean, a live webcast of the coupling from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration showed. The fin...
Read MoreA SpaceX rocket ship blasted off on Friday carrying the first all-private astronaut team ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS), a flight hailed by industry executives and NASA as a milestone in the commercialization of low-Earth orbit. Axiom's four-man team lifts off, riding atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 8, 2022. REUTERS/Steve Nesius The four-man team selected by Houston-based startup Axiom Space Inc for its landmark debut spaceflight and orbital science mission lifted off at 11:17 a.m. EDT (1517 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Live video webcast by Axiom showed the 25-story-tall Space...
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