Billionaire Branson will experience five minutes of weightlessness before gravity reclaims him, like the rest of us
British business mogul Richard Branson is going to the edge of space with three other people. If the flight goes as planned, Branson will be the first billionaire to reach space on his own commercial vehicle, pipping rival Jeff Bezos by a little more than a week.
Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which is aiming to develop space tourism, will carry its founder on what will be the 22nd flight test for the company’s spaceplane VSS Unity. It will also be the first time the spaceplane will carry a full crew of two pilots and four mission specialists (one of whom is Branson).
