Virgin Galactic partners with Omaze to pull two tickets into space for the public

[ad_1]

Virgin Galactic is offering a free flight into sub-orbital space to two competition winners from the general public.

On Sunday (July 11), the company announced a partnership with charity fundraising platform Omaze for the competition, which will put two people on a space flight expected to launch in early 2022. The news came shortly after Virgin Group billionaire founder Richard Branson and five other people safely launched ( It landed) from a flight into suborbital space aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft.

You can enter the contest here; Payment is not necessary to participate. In a pre-recorded video released by Virgin Galactic on Sunday, Branson explained how he had the “most amazing experience on Earth from above” and that he was “happy” to give the opportunity to others.

RELATED: Virgin Galactic launches Richard Branson into space on first fully manned flight More: ‘Welcome to the dawn of the new space age,’ says Branson

“You will travel to meet me on a private tour of Spaceport America, where we will prepare you to be among the first to experience Virgin Galactic spaceflight,” Branson explained. Spaceport America is the take-off and landing area for VSS Unity, approximately 55 miles (88 kilometers) from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Based on Branson’s experience, you’ll experience about four minutes of weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity, which flies under the wings of the VMS Eve carrier aircraft and achieves an altitude of over 50 miles (80 km). This is lower than the traditionally defined Karman Line, which lies at an altitude of 62 miles (100 km), but above space demarcation limits recognized by NASA, the US Army and the Federal Aviation Administration.

More: How Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Works (infographic)

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson (foreground) and his crew float in weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft during Suborbital Space Flight 22 on July 11, 2021 (Photo Credit: Virgin Galactic)

Eligible participants for the new competition must meet several conditions on the Omaze website, with some key requirements including being at least 18 years old, coming from a global jurisdiction that is not prohibited from participating and providing proof of coronavirus vaccination.

In a reminder that space flights are inherently dangerous, any entrant must also release Contest Holders from “all liability, loss, damage or expense arising out of or in connection with participation in any Experiment or acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes”.

Between now and August 31, all money raised will go to the nonprofit Space for Humanity, which seeks to democratize access to space. Its advisors include Andrew Aldrin, director of the Aldrin Space Institute at Florida Institute of Technology, and son of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, along with Alan Stern, a scientist best known for being a principal investigator on the New Horizons mission to Pluto and others. Kuiper belt destinations.

Virgin Galactic has been aiming to bring tourists into space since its founding in 2004, and the seating for the space recently sold for $250,000 each. Today’s sub-orbital spaceflight for Branson, and the short flight planned for July 20 by fellow billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, along with the two companies’ apparent competition for the attention of wealthy customers, have spurred some public discussion about how to increase tourist access to space. Among people who cannot afford such large sums.

However, a select group of lucky people with normal means have been invited to participate in the tourist spaceflights so far. Wally Funk’s Mercury 13 pilot will fly alongside Bezos and other passengers on July 20, while two competition winners and a childhood cancer survivor will fly with billionaire Jared Isaacman on the Inspiration4 mission to Earth that will launch later this year On board the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

Employees of space-faring companies may also get opportunities to see space, like the three Virgin Galactic workers who flew alongside Branson on Sunday, or those entities partnering with Axiom Space, which will send the first all-private spaceflight to the International Space Station in 2022. On Crew Dragon, if all goes well.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

[ad_2]