VSS Unity VF-01

VF-01[1] was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity that took place on 22 February 2019, piloted by David Mackay and co-piloted by Mike Masucci. It was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson that intends to conduct space tourism flights in the future. Following VSS Unity VP-03, VF-01 was a demonstration of the craft's ability to carry passengers. Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses acted as a test passenger, evaluating the experience for potential customers.[2]

VF-01
VSS Unity in February 2016
Mission typeCrewed suborbital spaceflight
OperatorVirgin Galactic
Mission duration26 minutes
Apogee89.99 kilometres (55.92 miles)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftVSS Unity
Spacecraft typeSpaceShipTwo
ManufacturerThe Spaceship Company
Crew
Members
Start of mission
Launch date22 February 2019, 16:57 UTC
Launch siteMojave Runway 30
Deployed fromVMS Eve
End of mission
Landing date22 February 2019, 17:23 UTC
Landing siteMojave Runway 30
 

Reaching an apogee of 55.92 mi (89.99 km), the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight (50 mi (80.47 km)), but fell short of the Kármán line (100 km (62.14 mi)), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition.

Crew
Position Astronaut
Pilot United Kingdom David Mackay
First spaceflight
Co-Pilot United States Michael Masucci
First spaceflight
Passenger United States Beth Moses
First spaceflight

Flight

On 22 February 2019, Unity's mother ship VMS Eve carried it into flight in a parasite configuration. Shortly before 9 a.m., Unity was drop launched. Pilots Mackay and Masucci flew Unity at a maximum Mach of 3.04 to a maximum altitude of over 55.9 mi (295,000 ft).[3] This altitude surpassed the 50-mile limit used in the United States to denote the limit of space, but fell short of the Kármán line. Both craft landed safely afterwards. During flight, Moses unstrapped from her seat and experienced weightlessness. Per the U.S. convention, Moses was also the first woman aboard a commercial spacecraft.[4]

References
  1. McDowell, Jonathan (9 March 2019). "Jonathan's Space Report, No. 762".
  2. Grush, Loren (22 February 2019). "Virgin Galactic spaceplane reaches space with first passenger on board". The Verge.
  3. "Virgin's Unity plane rockets skyward". BBC. 22 February 2019.
  4. Tribou, Richard (22 February 2019). "Virgin Galactic sends first test passenger on space flight". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
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