Lindbergh had chanced this crossing to win the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 reward offered by New York hotelier Raymond Orteig for the first pilot to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. By the 1990s, fewer than 300 people had gone to space, and all of them were employees of their nation’s space programs, military officers, or highly trained guests of those countries.ĭiamandis sought to change this, taking inspiration from Charles Lindbergh, the famed pilot who first flew across the Atlantic Ocean.

But that had not happened, and space remained the province of a handful of the world’s most wealthy nations, inaccessible to all but elite astronauts. It now seems abundantly clear that spaceflight has changed forever.įurther Reading The Greatest Leap, part 1: How the Apollo fire propelled NASA to the Moonĭiamandis had grown up during the 1960s, falling in love with the Apollo era of exploration, and he believed when he reached adulthood that anyone could go into space. In doing so, these pilots and crew opened a future that is both full of promise and uncertainty. It was absolutely a party.īut make no mistake, this flight was also historic.Ī new era opened this weekend when Branson flew alongside Virgin Galactic employees Beth Moses, Sirisha Bandla, and Colin Bennett above 80 km, NASA’s definition of space. R&B musician Khalid performed onstage following the mission. Virgin Galactic hired Stephen Colbert to host the livestream, after all. If you think Richard Branson’s space flight on Sunday morning was all about the pomp and simply served to feed the ego of a celebrity billionaire, you would not be wrong. “But honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of Earth from space.” “I have wanted to do this since I was a child,” Branson said. Beaming his white, toothy grin for all to see, the 70-year-old adventurer looked resplendent in his blue flight suit as he stood alongside the pilots, Dave Mackay and co-pilot Mike Masucci, who had just rocketed him above 85 km.

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M.-Sir Richard Branson basked in the late morning New Mexico sunshine on Sunday. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images reader comments 713 with

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