Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Reaches Space

Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo took off from Mojave Air and Space Port, in California, on Thursday, December 13, carrying SpaceShipTwo loaded with two test pilots and four NASA experiments.

The flight marked the first time that SpaceShipTwo reached space (as defined by NASA at 50 miles up) and was Virgin Galactic’s first mission for NASA.

The Virgin Galactic flights are aimed at eventually creating a passenger-carrying line for space tourism.

The flight requires WhiteKnightTwo to carry SpaceShipTwo high above Earth and release it, and then the reusable SpaceShipTwo fires its own rocket to continue the flight.

SpaceShipTwo topped 250,000 feet and reached a speed of Mach 2.9 before coasting back to Earth to land at Mojave Airport. Credit: Virgin Galactic via Storyful