Will the flight organized by Virgin Galactic open a new era of extraterrestrial travel
The first suborbital flight made by private commercial tourists took place. It was held as part of the Galactic 02 mission of Virgin Galactic. The reusable ship VSS Unity went to the edge of space, on board of which there were six people — three crew members and three passengers. One of them bought a ticket at full price, two more participants won tickets to the lottery. Industry experts stressed the importance of what happened for the development of space tourism in the world, but noted the shortcomings of the organization of flight safety.
Space tourism
On August 10, the VSS Unity reusable spacecraft successfully flew as part of Virgin Galactic's Galactic 02 mission. The launch took place from the spaceport America in New Mexico. The spaceplane was lifted into the air by a heavy carrier aircraft VMS Eve to an altitude of 15 km, after which, at the 19th minute of the flight, VSS Unity turned on its own engine and independently reached the mark of about 85 km.
Photo: AP Photo/Andrés Leighton
Image source: iz.ru
In the USA, this height is called the lower limit of space. Although in the world it is considered to be a Pocket line. It is located at the level of 100 km from the Earth's surface.
In accordance with the international classification, the VSS Unity flight is defined as suborbital, since the aircraft does not reach the first space speed (7.9 km /s), which is necessary to enter near-Earth orbit.
There were six people on board the rocket plane. Three of them were crew members, the rest were private individuals. Thus, the Galactic 02 mission became the first private commercial tourist suborbital expedition in history.
— In 2021, private companies also participated in the first suborbital flight, but then they were simply invited by Richard Benson on the flight. And in the previous Galactic 01 mission, the passengers of the suborbital aircraft were seconded representatives of government agencies. Now some tourists have paid for the event or won it in a lottery. Therefore, the flight justifies its name," explained cosmonautics historian Alexander Zheleznyakov.
Photo: AP Photo/Andrés Leighton
Image source: iz.ru
He noted that for the beginning of the era of mass space tourism, it is important that at least several successful flights take place. Nevertheless, the Galactic 02 mission has become a significant milestone on this path.
— However, the name "cosmonauts" or "astronauts" is not quite suitable for participants of such flights, — the expert believes. — The flight takes place, in fact, in the mesosphere (the middle layer of the atmosphere. — "Izvestia"), therefore it is more correct to use the term "mesonafts".
Become an "astronaut"
One of the passengers of the suborbital flight was an 80-year-old Englishman John Goodwin. He is a world-class athlete who was part of the British kayaking team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
According to John Goodwin, he bought a flight ticket 18 years ago, its cost was about $ 250 thousand. Now the man suffers from Parkinson's disease — an ailment that is associated with a violation of the functions of the brain and affects the motor system. With his suborbital flight, the former athlete decided to inspire other people who face similar difficulties.
— World experience shows that age is a hindrance for space expeditions, but not a fundamental one. The admission of people to such flights in all countries is determined by a special commission. Including Virgin Galactic. During flights, the greatest risks arise for the cardiovascular system," Arslan Niyazov, a researcher, a doctor in aviation and space medicine at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and deputy head of the medical support subgroup for spacewalks at the Roscosmos Mission Control Center, told Izvestia.
Photo: AP Photo/Andrés Leighton
Image source: iz.ru
The expert said that today many people have already visited space at a respectable age. For example, astronaut John Glenn celebrated his 77th birthday in 1998 during a flight on the Discovery shuttle, and the first space tourist Denis Tito visited the Russian segment of the ISS in 2001 when he was 61 years old. Pavel Vinogradov is the oldest among Russian cosmonauts. He turned 60 years old in orbit. And in 2021, 82-year-old Wally Funk made a suborbital flight on New Shepard.
— There are not so many requirements abroad for obtaining the qualification of a space tourist, — said Anton Alekseev, CEO of the aerospace corporation Novy Kosmos, market expert at Aeronet Research Institute. — For example, Blue Origin requires that you can climb seven flights of stairs in less than 90 seconds and weigh from 50 kg to 100 kg. The company says they will teach you everything you need to know the day before the launch. Virgin Galactic training supposedly lasts five days.
Another participant of the flight was Keisha Sharaf, a citizen of the state of Antigua and Barbuda, located on one of the Antilles Islands in the Caribbean Sea. She won her ticket in the lottery. The charity event, where participation in the flight was played out, was organized by the non-profit organization Space for Humanity. Its activities are aimed at increasing the accessibility of space for people around the world.
The winner found out about her happy fate when Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, came to her house and told her about winning two vouchers. The woman chose her daughter Anastasia Mayes as a traveling companion.
Safety requirements
Judging by the online broadcast, which was posted on the Virgin Galactic website, all the participants of the flight experienced tremendous emotions. The flight took about 45 minutes. At the same time, for several minutes, when VSS Unity was at the top of its trajectory, tourists were able to soar in weightlessness. Also from the porthole of the ship they observed the Earth in the form of a ball surrounded by a bluish haze of dense layers of the atmosphere. This is how our planet is seen from the outside.
Despite the fact that the flight was successful, the experts who observed it noted that Virgin Galactic should improve the organization of flight safety.
Photo: AP Photo/Andrés Leighton
Image source: iz.ru
— The organization of flight safety suffers from Western companies. Any flights above an altitude of 12 km must necessarily be accompanied by the donning of altitude-compensating suits and oxygen masks. At altitudes of more than 18 km, a person's blood boils in a few seconds," said Nicholas Oxman, a popularizer of cosmonautics, an expert on life support systems and space medicine.
He explained that ideally it is necessary to use rescue suits, but it is too expensive. Therefore, fabric altitude-compensating suits would be perfect.
At the same time, the specialist noted that Virgin Galactic has already sold more than 1 thousand vouchers at a price of about $ 250 thousand. With such a pace of launches, it will serve only the accumulated queue for decades.
Anton Alekseev, for his part, said that the start of commercial flights is very important for Virgin Galactic, because at the next stage of the project's development, the company will be able to switch to regular flights every month.
Andrey Korshunov