Neat detail on the seat design I just noticed: Kind of interesting as to what they leave out. More pics of the interior.
Video of the launch. Not going to pooh-pooh any effort to expand human spaceflight, but I gotta say the fact that the "astronauts" weren't even wearing spacesuits is kinda lame. (Around 1:21 in the video)
I get that VirginGalactic technically meets the threshold for going into space, but they are by far the lamest of the big three private sector space companies. SpaceX is kicking ass and taking names. Blue Origin is about to shift into high gear. VirginGalactic barely qualifies as entering space. Again, don't want to poo-poo any effort to advance spaceflight, but Branson needs to dial it back a notch.
Eh, I understand Branson's business model (not saying that it's the right one, mind you). There are about half a dozen private spaceship company startups out there (though not all of them are building crewed vehicles), and so far as I know, VirginGalactic is the only one ran by someone who also runs (or ran) an airline. Branson is a slightly more ethical billionaire than Bezos or Musk, so he's not resorting to some of the things that they're doing to make his company profitable. Will it pay off? I don't know. If Bezos and Musk weren't players, then I'd happily bet on VG.
This is one hell of an infomercial for Richard Branson. Gotta say, I've lost a bit of respect for Stephen Colbert.
Honestly, as I've said earlier upthread, I'm glad VirginGalactic is advancing flight but there are serious questions as to whether what they actually do qualifies as true spaceflight. Neither VirginGalactic nor Blue Origin currently have the ability to actually enter orbit, and they barely meet the height requirements for entering actual space. The article linked in my post also indicates that VirginGalactic's method of flight does some serious damage to the ozone layer.
Jesus Christ. 60 seconds at 80km and then reentry. Also, their live feed didn't work. What a lot of hype for basically a nothing sandwich. Calling this "space travel" is pretty insulting to the hundreds of astronauts who came before. Alan Shepard did it better in 1961.
You know what? Now that I've thought about it for a few minutes, fuck Richard Branson and fuck VirginGalactic. They're not advancing spaceflight. They're a cheap carnival sideshow compared to the real work that NASA, JPL and SpaceX are doing.