SpaceX founder Elon Musk visited Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson at 3:00 A.M. on Sunday, July 11, ahead of his historic voyage to the edge of space. “It was great this morning to find Elon Musk in my kitchen at three o’clock, to come to wish us the best,” Branson said. “I’d already been to bed and he still hadn’t gone to bed,” he added. “He’s an all-nighter and our time clocks are completely different. But so nice of him to come all this way to wish us well.” Branson shared a photograph of him with Musk in his kitchen via Twitter.
Big day ahead. Great to start the morning with a friend. Feeling good, feeling excited, feeling ready.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
Watch #Unity22 launch and livestream TODAY at 7:30 am PT | 10:30 am ET | 3:30 pm BST.@virgingalactic @elonmusk https://t.co/1313b4RAKI pic.twitter.com/FRQqrQEbH8
Branson’s first voyage to space was a success! His 90-minute trip began on Sunday, July 11, as Virgin Galactic’s VMS (Virgin MotherShip) Eve twin carrier jet, with the VSS Unity 22 (SpaceShipTwo) rocketplane attached under its wings, took off at 10:40 a.m. EDT from Spaceport America’s runway near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Branson rode the VSS Unity 22 rocketplane with five crewmates: Pilots Michael Masucci and Dave Mackay; Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor at Virgin Galactic; Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, the company’ vice president of government affairs and research.
Image Source: Virgin Galactic / left to right: Pilot Dave Mackay; Colin Bennet, Beth Moses, Richard Branson; Sirisha Bandla, pilot Michael Masucci.
The rocketplane reached an altitude of approximately 53.3 miles (85.50-kilometers) above Earth’s surface, where they got to witness an incredible view of our planet, as well as experience zero gravity for about 3-minutes. “To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars,” Branson said as he looked out Unity 22's window and his crewmates floated in microgravity. “Now I’m an adult, in a spaceship with lots of other wonderful adults, looking down to our beautiful, beautiful Earth.”
“To the next generation of dreamers, if we can do this, just imagine what you can do!” he said, then he unstrapped his seatbelt to float out of his seat. A few moments later, the rocketplane began its return sequence. Unity 22 plunged back into Earth’s atmosphere and landed at Spaceport America. The fully-crewed sub-orbital test flight demonstrated Virgin Galactic is ready to provide space tours for civilians. Virgin plans two more test flights, by early 2022 the company will begin flying paying customers starting at $250,000 per seat. According to the Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson told reporters that Musk bought a ticket aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocketplane - no additional details were provided.
I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/03EJmKiH8V
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021
Soon after returning from space, Branson announced a charity sweepstakes to fundraise for Space for Humanity, two individuals who donate will be selected to fly to space aboard one of the first commercial flights. To participate, visit the link provided in the Tweet linked below.
Space is for everyone. You could make history and win 2 seats on one of the FIRST Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflights! Proceeds will benefit our mission to expand access to space for all of humanity.
— Space for Humanity (@SpaceHumanity) July 11, 2021
ENTER NOW: https://t.co/H7ycjPmiVp#VirginGalactic #RichardBranson #Omaze pic.twitter.com/XGkgcTvnuo
Congratulations to @richardbranson and @virgingalactic for dreaming so big! Now it’s your turn…
— Omaze (@omaze) July 11, 2021
You could make history and win two seats on one of the FIRST Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflights!
ENTER NOW: https://t.co/WmZo2aixYb#VirginGalactic #RichardBranson #Omaze pic.twitter.com/9qLGKctmnw
Featured Image Source: Virgin Galactic Richard Branson
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
