VSS Unity VF-01

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation   Launch date - time  22 Feb 2019 - 1653:40 UTC Launch site  Mojave Air and Space Port, California. (Kelso Valley?) Airplane carier VMS Eve (White Knight Two, flight WK2-264/N202VG-16) Drop point 118.22W 35.38N Spaceship Two Unity VF-01 Operator Virgin Galactic Mass (kg)   kg Mission Crewed suborbital test flight Crew  Dave Mackay, Michael Masucci and Beth Moses Suborbital flight:    - Top speed  Mach 3.0    - High Apogee  89.92 km Landing date - time  22 Feb 2019 - 1708:49 UTC Landing location  Mojave Flight Duration  15m 09s

SpaceShipTwo "Unity" at rollout event on 19 February 2016 in Virgin Galactic FAITH hangar, Mojave, California - Photo credit: Virgin

Launched Crew

Note:

• VSS Unity carried three crew members:
  • David Mackay, VG Chief Pilot, who becomes the first Scottish-born astronaut
  • Michael Massuci, VG pilot;
  • Beth Moses, the first woman on a commercial human spaceflight launch.
• Beth is the Chief Trainer for VG (her full birth name was Natalie Beth Stubbings. She also became, the first person to unstrap and float around the cabin on a suborbital spaceflight. The crew became the 569th, 570th, and 571st humans to fly in space.

Description:

• VSS Unity VF-01[1] was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which 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 which 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.
• Reaching an apogee of 89.9 km (55.9 mi), 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 internationally accepted standard.

Mission Report:

• Virgin Galactic′s Spaceship Two VSS Unity made its second spaceflight on Feb 22, 2019. Takeoff of the White Knight Two carrier plane, VMS Eve, on flight WK2-264/N202VG-16 was at 1653:40 UTC from Mojave Air and Space Port. Aboard VSS Unity were pilots Dave Mackay and Mike Masucci, and third flight crew member Beth Moses (Chief Trainer for VG). The mission ID for the flight was VF-01 (F is for full flight profile).
• WK2 flew north to Owens Lake, west to Overlook Mountain in the Sierra Nevada and then south to the drop point near Kelso Valley Airport at 118.22W 35.38N. At 1653:40, at an altitude of 13.4 km, WK2 dropped VSS Unity.
• Unity′s hybrid RM2 rocket motor fired for 59 seconds starting at 1653:43 and boosted it to a maximum Mach of 3.04 an apogee of 89.92 km (55.87 miles); Unity then glided to touchdown on the Mojave runway RW12/30, with wheels stop at 1708:49 UTC, for a flight duration of 15min 09s. 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.
• This was the first time that VSS Unity carried three people, instead of just the two pilots, to space. Moses rode along in the cabin as passsenger and got out of her seat, in order to get a better understanding of the “customer cabin and spaceflight environment from the perspective of people in the back,” according to the company. Moses will be responsible for preparing future passengers for what to expect on flights, and today′s flight will provide valuable input for that.
  Per the U.S. convention, Moses was also the first woman to fly to space onboard a commercial vehicle.

The three crew members during the flight test Image: Virgin Galactic

External links:

• Wikipedia: VF-01
• Wikipedia: Spaceship Two
• Wikipedia: White Knight Two