The VSS Enterprise from Virgin Galactic made its first full-crew flight on Thursday, July 15, 2010, as it flew attached to its carrier craft VMS Eve. The entire privately owned venture is expected to be the first commercial project directed at space tourism.





Two members of VSS Enterprise were joined by three members of VMS Eve on the flight over the Mojave Desert in California.The WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve crew included Mark Stucky, Peter Kalogiannis, and Brian Maisler, while the SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise crew consisted of Peter Siebold and Michael Alsbury.The 6-hour, 12-minute flight was conducted to test the systems of both spacecraft. Upon completion of the flight, officials with Virgin Galactic called the test flight a success.The July 16, 2010 press release from Virgin Galactic, called ' VSS Enterprise Makes First Crewed Flight ,' stated '15th July was a significant milestone for Scaled Composites as the team march towards the first solo flights of VSS Enterprise (SpaceShipTwo).'Scaled Composites, founded by Burt Rutan, is the company that built the two spacecraft for Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson (within the Virgin Group).Page two concludes.





The Virgin Galactic article added, 'For the first time VSS Enterprise flew with crew on board. As planned, the spaceship remained attached to VMS Eve (captive) for the duration of the flight and numerous combined vehicle systems tests were conducted.'And, 'In addition and for the first time, the two crew members on board VSS Enterprise, evaluated all of the spaceship's systems and functions from end to end in the air. Objectives achieved.'Additional images and videos of the project are available on the Virgin Galactic webpage mentioned earlier.Once operational, the VSS Enterprise is expected to stay attached to VMS Eve from liftoff to an altitude of 52,000 feet (16,000 meters). At which time, Enterprise will separate and climb to a maximum height of about 68 miles (110 kilometers)--enough to be considered a trip to space. The Karman line is considered to be the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space--an altitude of approximately 62 miles (100 kilometers).VMS Eve will return to the runway, while VSS Enterprise will continue on its suborbital flight into space and then back into Earth's atmosphere. VSS Enterprise will then return to the runway, a journey of approximately 3.5 hours. The time of weightlessness for its passengers will be about 6 minutes.

The entire trip will cost a slightly modest $200,000 per ticket. At least 300 (no doubt) wealthy passengers have already signed up for suborbital trips to space with Virgin Galactic.