VSS Unity Unity 21[1] was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which took place on 22 May 2021, piloted by David Mackay and co-piloted by Frederick Sturckow. It was the first human spaceflight from the state of New Mexico.[2] It was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson which intends to conduct space tourism flights in the future. Unity21 was the first human spaceflight to be launched from Spaceport America.[3][4]
 VSS Unity | |
| Mission type | Crewed suborbital spaceflight |
|---|---|
| Operator | Virgin Galactic |
| Apogee | 89.23 km (55.44 mi) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 2 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 May 2021 15:26 UTC |
| Rocket | VSS Unity carried by VMS Eve |
| Launch site | Spaceport America |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 22 May 2021 |
| Landing site | Spaceport America |
Reaching an apogee of 55.45 mi (89.24 km), 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 FAI definition.
Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | David Mackay Second spaceflight | |
| Co-Pilot | Frederick Sturckow Sixth spaceflight | |
Flights are currently only by U.S Convention.
Flight
On 22 May 2021, Unity's mother ship VMS Eve carried it into flight in a parasite configuration. At 15:26 UTC,[5] Unity was drop launched. Pilots MacKay and Sturckow flew Unity at a maximum Mach of 3. to a maximum altitude of over 55.45 mi (292,800 ft). 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. Both craft landed safely afterwards.
References
- ^ "Virgin Galactic on Twitter". 22 May 2021.
Unity21 made a beautiful ascent to apogee over Spaceport America, New Mexico.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Virgin Galactic Completes First Human Spaceflight from Spaceports America, New Mexico". 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Virgin Galactic launches third successful spaceflight". 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Virgin Galactic on twitter". 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
Space is too good not to share. Our proof is in the incredible views of Earth aboard #Unity21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ McDowell, Jonathan (22 May 2021). "Jonathan McDowell on Twitter". Retrieved 22 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)