Page 140 - Branson News Today

And then the astronauts ss experienced a few seconds of free fall before they ignited the engine and it blasted in to space. and a near vertical climb to the very edge of space. and we got official confirmation from the team that they reached 53.3 miles just over the 5 m0 34mile threshold. but dont tell that to jeff brazos which they will take it a little further. so once the injury again galactic team got to the edge of space, they got those few minutes of weightlessness, we could see them floa...

And that the missions are different. >> the kind of experience youre going to get with the two -- the two companies will -- are almost as different as talk and cheese. so, we dont see ourself as a direct competitor. >> two, one. >> reporter: while bezoss flight will be after bransons, his rocket system, new shepherd, will go even higher. past the carmen line, which is the altitude natiinternationall recognized to be the demarcation in space. his company, blue origin, taking a shot at bransons tr...

You have said? >> i would have given ate a 50/50 honestly. were here today. its a great day. just look forward to the future. howie: so were looking at live pictures of branson and the crew and the employees inside the capsule. they must be breathing a little easier now. you can have all the drawings and scheme matt ex and studies -- scematies and studies but im sure its a relief to be on the ground. your projection, you would think that 50/50 odds, underscores that weve been used to a lot of su...

Space ship richard bransons own mother "eve." there is that massive wing between the fuselages. that is where the "unity" space ship sits locked underneath the wing. as you said, they climb to 50,000 feet, release and fire the rocket. its going to take a bit to get those guys strapped in, reich ardern branson, two pilots and the three other passengers. all of them are virgin employees, virgin galactic employees. this is, as you mention, a dream of his for so long. and i had an exclusive intervie...

Deep. think return to the moon. think about mars. the low earth orbit stuff nasa has been doing for the better part of 40 years now, it is time to give that over to the private sector. and thats why theyve been embracing spacex which has been servicing the space station. blue origin has been running missions to the space station. its all about turning some of that over to the private sector because its not been perfected, but nasa has been the ones that have gone out there, done the science, and...

These things. and i finally got the call from chief engineer saying that every single box had been ticked on the safety aspect. and that i was -- um -- um -- would i like to go to space? and i hit -- i hit the roof, i was so excited. >> reporter: the virgin galactic rocket-powered space plane is set to take off tomorrow from new mexico. the mother ship will release the spaceship at around 40,000 feet. the rocket will ignite. and take branson, two pilots, and three others, on a 2,400-mile-per-hou...

Historic day for space travel. richard branson going where no billionaire has gone before. virgin galactics super sonic space plan the vs ss unity taki them to the edge of space. and here is rachel crane report willing on that breathtaking moment when it detached from the mothership named eve. >> reporter: you can hear the crowd cheering behind me. this is that historic moment that richard branson and his team have been waiting for for nearly two decades. and we have release. the engine has igni...

How are those two spacecraft different? >> there are quite a few significant differences here as we look at the battle of the billionaires. the billionaires have done little to dispel this because i think it is good company. i think the media has enjoyed this. it is not really a competition. they all have concurrent goals and theyre not really robbing each other of customers necessarily. what you have with branson is a mini space shuttle, a space plane. it has its first stage is that mother ship...

Could benefit those of us on earth. what does this achieve, what branson is doing, beyond theoretically the future democratization of space travel? i guess what im saying is, given the fact that government investments in space exploration -- you can see branson right now with members of his family getting off the craft. well just keep watching that while we talk, miles. what im driving at is, in the past we were told when nasa requested money, all the technological advances for space travel by t...

Welcome back. we are now just moments away, were told, from witnessing history as billionaire william branson is poised to fly to out of space. were talking about this with a panel of space experts. there seems to be a riff between branson and bezos who is planning to do his in about nine days. what do you make of that? >> reporter: branson said he doesnt view this as a race, the more the merrier, but he did say he was planning to do it next