Showtime at 6AM on ABC-7: Branson takes the stage in space
(Editor's note: LIVE coverage begins at 6AM Sunday on ABC-7. You can watch it by clicking here.)
Think space is boring? Sir Richard Branson, one of the most flamboyant entrepreneurs of our time is changing up the spaceflight experience. Stephen Colbert on mission commentary, Khalid providing the music. Branson wants to make space cool again and is putting on a show that would send Mission Control into a tailspin. At the remote Spaceport New Mexico – dateline Truth of Consequences – a concert stage has been built, the Land Rovers (a VG sponsor) that will take the crew out to their fueled aircraft have been hand washed. No one will confuse Sunday's event with a NASA launch, even though SpaceX has tried to upped their game by giving us that unforgettable image of a spaceman in a Tesla on a mission to nowhere.
The timing on Sunday – all times MT. * VMS means Virgin Mother Ship & VSS means Virgin Space Ship
12:00am MT VMS Unity & VSS Eve roll out to the end of the runway for fueling and systems checks.
1:00am MT Systems checks and weather forecast checks
6:30am MT Crew and passengers ride out to the end of the runway to board their flight
7:00am MT VMS Eve and VSS Unity take off from the Spaceport. It takes 15 to 60 minutes to climb to 50,000 feet.
7:35am MT Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses conducts systems checks ten minutes before rocket plane release –and he can abort the drop if necessary
7:39am MT Four minute call out and system checks
7:41am MT Two minute call out and system checks
7:45am MT VMS Eve drops Unity – Unity then fires its engine and takes its passengers to space – last 3 flights climbed between 54-56 miles
8:30am MT VMS Eve lands first, followed by rocket plane VSS Unity
TBD Branson and crew have post flight press conferences.
Weather constraints: Rain and wind – Moses said rain would stop them and crosswinds and headwinds are an issue too – but it’s not just takeoff weather, they have to make sure weather is good to land the mothership VMS Eve and the rocket plane VSS Unity to land back at the spaceport. Could they turn around the next day? Yes.
When your wife and boss are on the flight? Moses' wife Beth is the astronaut trainer, she’s flying, and of course so his boss, Richard Branson. But Moses said he treats every passenger with the same care. Moses was the launch director for many space shuttle missions, and ten years ago gave the go for the last space shuttle flight.
Go NO Go poll: Yes, but this time the go, no go poll is about ten minutes before the mothership drops the rocket plane.
The twitter trolling: Moses says all that really matters is the passenger experience, and if his passengers get up to 50 miles, and can float for five minutes and marvel at our beautiful planet, then who cares if they get to the Karman line.
This new space race is the battle of the billionaires, who want to prove their suborbital launches can become a routine and profitable tourist attraction. Is this the democratization of space? Yes, but it comes with a $250K price tag.
WHEN IT’S HAPPENING
Virgin Galactic plans to launch its flight Unity 22 on Sunday at 7 a.m. MT. This would be a roughly 90 minute flight launching from the Spaceport, and landing there as well. Branson last week added himself to this crew of six (he is the owner, after all!). At 70 years old, this makes him one of the oldest people to fly to space. John Glenn was 77, Wally Funk (who will join Jeff Bezos on Blue Origin's west Texas launch from Van Horn in another week) is 82.
HOW IT’S HAPPENING
Instead of launching straight up from a launchpad (like SpaceX and Blue Origin), VSS Unity is tethered to the bottom of the mothership VMS Eve, which flies to an altitude of 50,000 feet, then drops Unity -- its rocket motor ignites, pushing Unity up to space, reaching an altitude of 50 miles or more above Earth, high enough for its six passengers to go weightless, see the curvature of Earth, and then earn rights to call themselves “astronauts."
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Virgin Galactic has taken $250,000 deposits from hundreds of wannabe astronauts eager to fly, and if this mission is successful it cements Branson’s dream of tourist flights.
TRAGIC TEST FLIGHT
Back in 2014, a pilot was killed when a Virgin Galactic test vehicle suffered an in-flight breakup and crashed in the Mojave Desert. Blue Origin and SpaceX have also had accidents, but no humans were on board.
THE FINANCIAL PRESSURE
VG is funded by investors and occasional government contracts to launch satellites into low Earth orbit. The money paid by the tourists to date is held in escrow. To become profitable, VG is going to have to fly hundreds of flights per year, with six passengers at a time. Richard Branson may be feeling more of a financial pressure than Bezos to make this work — Sunday's flight will prove whether this is viable (or not).
