'Just wow': Virgin Galactic completes first passenger spaceflight

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES — Virgin Galactic flew three private passengers into suborbit Thursday morning, marking the long-awaited, official launch of monthly tourist shuttles to space from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico.

The passengers — including octogenarian Jon Goodwin and a mother-daughter duo from Antigua and Barbuda — were greeted by scores of friends, family and well-wishers on the spaceport tarmac after returning from their early morning flight on the VSS Unity rocketship.

“That was by far the best, most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Goodwin told a crowd of nearly 200 people after descending from Unity. “The thing that most surprised me is the beauty of Earth from space. It’s completely surreal.”

Keisha Schahaff, a 46-year-old health and wellness coach, said flying to space with her 18-year-old daughter, Anastatia Mayers, was “amazing.”

“It was a childhood dream come true,” Schahaff said. “I’ve been to space and back with my daughter.”

Mayers was speechless.

“I have no words,” she said. “Just, ‘wow.’”

The hour-long flight began at about 8:30 a.m., when the mothership, VMS Eve, took off from the spaceport runway with Unity attached to its wings. About 45 minutes later, once Eve reached about 44,000 feet, Unity broke away from the mothership and fired up its rocket motor to shoot into space at three times the speed of sound.

Once there, the passengers could be seen on a Virgin Galactic livestream floating around the cabin and taking in views of Earth below.

The spaceship hit its apogee at 55 miles up, and then began floating back down to Earth. It touched down again on the spaceport runway at 9:33 a.m., followed by the mothership about a half hour later.

As the company’s first private passenger flight, Thursday’s launch represented a major milestone for Virgin Galactic, which has worked for nearly 20 years to fully develop its technology to offer paying customers routine access to space. And, the inclusion of two women from Antigua — who won their seats in an international sweepstakes competition in 2021 — also allowed Virgin Galactic to claim a number of historic milestones from the flight, such as the first time two women from the Caribbean having flown to space, and the first time a mother and daughter having done so together.

With Unity pilot Kelly Latimer and Virgin Galactic Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses also on board the spaceship, Unity’s flight marked the largest female contingent ever to travel together to space on a single mission.

In addition, Jon Goodwin — a former Olympian athlete and lifelong adventurist — has Parkinson’s disease, making him only the second person to fly to suborbit with that illness to date.

C.J. Sturckow was the mission’s flight commander.

The crew’s diversity showcased Virgin Galactic’s goal of making spaceflight a reality for many more people across the globe, said company CEO Michael Colglazier.

“Today Virgin Galactic took another historic leap forward by flying our first astronaut mission and demonstrating how our spaceflights will broaden access to space,” Colglazier said in a statement. “Jon, Keisha and Ana each embody our fundamental belief that space is for everyone, and we are proud that today’s flight has inspired people and communities around the world.

Caribbean celebrations

Indeed, the mother-daughter duo’s flight ignited celebratory “watch parties” in both Antigua and Barbuda, said Ercil Charles Jr., deputy news director for TV and radio at Antigua Barbuda Broadcasting, which sent a crew to the spaceport.

“All of Antigua is tuned in and watching,” Charles told the Journal.

That included Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson, who traveled to the island nation to watch the livestream feed of the launch together with the country’s prime minister and other government officials.

Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority CEO Colin James and other tourism executives also traveled to the spaceport, where they joined Schahaff and Mayers to unfurl the country’s national flag on the tarmac after Unity’s flight. Both mother and daughter also had the flag attached as emblems on their flight suits, and Schahaff even carried some beach sand from the islands on the spaceship.

“Antigua went to space,” Schahaff declared in a shout-out to fellow citizens after deboarding from Unity.

Thursday’s flight kicks off the start of monthly trips to suborbit for paying passengers, with four more launches planned for this year. The next launch is expected in September, Virgin Galactic announced Thursday.

The company has more than 800 reservations from customers in some 60 countries waiting to fly, including many who have waited nearly two decades to board the spaceship.

That includes David Mendal, a commercial pilot who owns a travel and aviation company in Miami. Mendal, 59, bought a $250,000 ticket to suborbit from Virgin Galactic 17 years ago and is now anxiously waiting his turn to fly as the company finally moves into a monthly launch schedule.

Mendal attended Unity’s Thursday morning flight.

“I’ve always dreamed of it and I think we’re getting closer,” Mendal told the Journal. “As each of the monthly missions successfully take place, it gets us closer to where we want to be. Based on what we’re seeing, I’ve been told I could be able to fly in about 18 months or sooner.”