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VSS Unity VP-03
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<h2 id="crew">Crew</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th><a href="/facts/Astronaut_ranks_and_positions/SMmsDTLu">Position</a></th><th scope="col" colspan="2">Astronaut</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Pilot</th><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Mark_P._Stucky/XN94HrL6">Mark P. Stucky</a>Only spaceflight</td></tr><tr><th scope="row">Co-Pilot</th><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Frederick_Sturckow/52mkETvA">Frederick "CJ" Sturckow</a>Fifth spaceflight</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Flights are currently only by U.S Convention. </p> <h2 id="background">Background</h2> <p>During the 20th century, <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">human spaceflight</a> was conducted exclusively by countries and government agencies, such as <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>. This began to change during the early 21st century, as several <a href="/facts/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies/wTzn5Xax">private spaceflight companies</a> either continued development, or were established. From 2000–2004, <a href="/facts/Blue_Origin/CxFvEmDr">Blue Origin</a>, <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a> and <a href="/facts/Virgin_Galactic/BrJavxml">Virgin Galactic</a> were founded. In 2004, <a href="/facts/SpaceShipOne/80LUjFgH">SpaceShipOne</a> became the first private craft to carry humans into space. On three separate one-man sub-orbital flights, pilots <a href="/facts/Mike_Melvill/0Rj8IPNj">Mike Melvill</a> and <a href="/facts/Brian_Binnie/6NJ8jwL8">Brian Binnie</a> reached a maximum altitude above 100 kilometers, thereby crossing the <a href="/facts/K%25C3%25A1rm%25C3%25A1n_line/CfvQ3fbp">Kármán line</a>, the internationally recognized boundary of outer space. SpaceShipOne was carried into flight in a <a href="/facts/Parasite_aircraft/33bTefjN">parasite</a> configuration by <a href="/facts/Scaled_Composites_White_Knight/aon18hWb">White Knight</a>, its <a href="/facts/Mother_ship/uSNuBK2V">mother ship</a>, from which point it flew into space. SpaceShipOne was designed by <a href="/facts/Burt_Rutan/KfUqgMlu">Burt Rutan</a> and manufactured by <a href="/facts/Scaled_Composites/lnDfbH6d">Scaled Composites</a>, a company he had founded in 1982. In 2005, Rutan and Virgin Galactic founder <a href="/facts/Richard_Branson/khhRPD3m">Richard Branson</a> co-founded <a href="/facts/The_Spaceship_Company/YnIJU2u0">The Spaceship Company</a>, a separate manufacturing organization meant to supply Virgin Galactic with a fleet of spacecraft. The results were <a href="/facts/SpaceShipTwo/IAAHm6Qx">SpaceShipTwo</a> and mother ship <a href="/facts/Scaled_Composites_White_Knight_Two/yLNJmmH8">White Knight Two</a>, also designed by Rutan. The first instances of each craft were dubbed the <a href="/facts/VSS_Enterprise/YSKlenFY">VSS <i>Enterprise</i></a> and the <a href="/facts/VMS_Eve/5FDLtaM4">VMS <i>Eve</i></a>, respectively. The parasite aspect of both SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo's flight profiles are shared with the <a href="/facts/North_American_X-15/btDgcYKz">North American X-15</a>, an earlier <a href="/facts/Spaceplane/oMJNJPy7">spaceplane</a> which also performed high-altitude and sub-orbital flights. </p><p>In May 2013, retired NASA astronaut and four-time <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle/7BoyetEv">Space Shuttle</a> veteran Frederick "CJ" Sturckow joined Virgin Galactic as a test pilot.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Sturckow had previously flown on <a href="/facts/STS-88/kEbwXvW2">STS-88</a>, <a href="/facts/STS-105/EmW8kAgJ">STS-105</a>, <a href="/facts/STS-117/cqkxRd6l">STS-117</a> and <a href="/facts/STS-128/qJpB7Qgu">STS-128</a> before entering spaceflight's private sector. </p><p>On 31 October 2014, the <i>Enterprise</i> was destroyed in a <a href="/facts/VSS_Enterprise_crash/0Xm5M7Se">catastrophic breakup</a>, killing its co-pilot <a href="/facts/Michael_Alsbury/YlW7Dy5z">Michael Alsbury</a> and seriously injuring its lead pilot <a href="/facts/Peter_Siebold/q9LUI9V0">Peter Siebold</a>. Following the disaster, the second SpaceShipTwo craft, VSS <i>Unity</i>, was completed in 2016, and began testing. </p><p>In January 2015, Scaled Composites test pilot Mark "Forger" Stucky was hired by Virgin Galactic as a test pilot.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Stucky had been closely involved with the development of SpaceShipTwo during his tenure with Scaled. He also served for one year (2014-2015) as the president of the <a href="/facts/Society_of_Experimental_Test_Pilots/7X6yhFRl">Society of Experimental Test Pilots</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="flight">Flight</h2> <p>On 13 December 2018, at an altitude of 43,000 ft (13,000 m), the VMS <i>Eve</i> released the VSS <i>Unity</i> for its fourth powered test flight.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Lead pilot Stucky and co-pilot Sturckow flew <i>Unity</i> at a maximum <a href="/facts/Mach_number/Ee01MIgw">Mach</a> of 2.9 to an altitude of 82.7 km (51.4 mi), thereby surpassing the 50 mi (80 km) limit used in the United States to denote the limit of space, but falling short of the <a href="/facts/K%25C3%25A1rm%25C3%25A1n_line/CfvQ3fbp">Kármán line</a> of 62 mi (100 km). Both craft landed safely afterwards. The flight was publicized online in various <a href="/facts/Twitter/VWwDNGUm">tweets</a> by Virgin Galactic, Branson himself, and related personnel. </p> <h2 id="response">Response</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Federal_Aviation_Administration/PYsXt3YT">Federal Aviation Administration</a> congratulated Virgin Galactic and the pilots on their successful flight, and invited the team to <a href="/facts/Washington%2c_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a> for a ceremony to award the pilots <a href="/facts/Astronaut_wings/YT16EdnV">astronaut wings</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>Virgin Galactic and its personnel were also congratulated on Twitter by U.S Vice President <a href="/facts/Mike_Pence/yF3PHK7L">Mike Pence</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> NASA administrator <a href="/facts/Jim_Bridenstine/VDeaL30j">Jim Bridenstine</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Canadian astronaut <a href="/facts/Chris_Hadfield/GecL8nzB">Chris Hadfield</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> and British astronaut <a href="/facts/Tim_Peake/1TgxMJxh">Tim Peake</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> On the other hand, Virgin Galactic were sharply criticized following the flight by Australian-American astronaut <a href="/facts/Andy_Thomas/vKrEqadQ">Andy Thomas</a>, who characterized their sub-orbital program as "a high-altitude aeroplane flight and a dangerous one at that".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Spaceflight portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Mercury-Redstone_3/x7DvfFQY">Mercury-Redstone 3</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mercury-Redstone_4/TXol5Hrv">Mercury-Redstone 4</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/North_American_X-15/btDgcYKz">North American X-15</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Soyuz_MS-10/A5RrLwrD">Soyuz MS-10</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sub-orbital_spaceflight/NdLRlGIq">Sub-orbital spaceflight</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Grush, Loren (December 13, 2018). "Virgin Galactic's spaceplane finally makes it to space for the first time". The Verge. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/13/18138279/virgin-galactic-vss-unity-spaceshiptwo-space-tourism" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/13/18138279/virgin-galactic-vss-unity-spaceshiptwo-space-tourism</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bergin, Chris (May 7, 2013). "From Shuttle to SS2 – Sturckow joins Virgin Galactic". Nasa Space Flight. <a href="https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/05/from-shuttle-ss2-sturckow-joins-virgin-galactic/" target="_blank">https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/05/from-shuttle-ss2-sturckow-joins-virgin-galactic/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Messier, Doug (January 23, 2015). "Virgin Galactic Hires New Pilot". Parabolic Arc. <a href="http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/01/23/virgin-galactic-hires-pilot/" target="_blank">http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/01/23/virgin-galactic-hires-pilot/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Past Presidents of SETP". Society of Experimental Test Pilots. <a href="http://www.setp.org/setp-personnel/presidents.html" target="_blank">http://www.setp.org/setp-personnel/presidents.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Stewart, Jack (December 13, 2018). "As Virgin Galactic Reaches Space, Pilots Become Astronauts". Wired. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/virgin-galactic-space-vss-unity-flight/" target="_blank">https://www.wired.com/story/virgin-galactic-space-vss-unity-flight/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Press Release - Statement of FAA Assistant Administrator Bailey Edwards on the Successful Virgin Galactic Flight". Federal Aviation Administration. December 13, 2018. <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=23395" target="_blank">https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=23395</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Congrats @virgingalactic for sending your first astronauts to space today aboard SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity – the 1st crewed flight to launch from US soil in over 7 years!"[7] <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Congratulations to @virgingalactic on the first human spaceflight to be launched from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle!"[8] <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Congratulations CJ, Forger, Sir Richard and everyone @virgingalactic! The sonic boom of a new door opening."[9] <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Congratulations to the entire @virgingalactic team on a ground-breaking flight into space"[10] <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Australian Associated Press (December 17, 2018). "Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights criticised as 'dangerous, dead-end tech'". TheGuardian.com. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/18/richard-bransons-virgin-galactic-space-flights-criticised-as-dangerous-dead-end-tech" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/18/richard-bransons-virgin-galactic-space-flights-criticised-as-dangerous-dead-end-tech</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>