We are very pleased to report that Sir Richard Branson has won the billionaire space race, beating both Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk into space. Virgin Galactic successfully completed the maiden voyage of Spaceship Unity, surpassing the 50 miles up mark, and returning safely to Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Jameel Janua, Patrick Moran, CJ Sturckow, Kelly Latimer, Dave Mackay, and Mike Masucci piloted both the Mothership Eve (named after Branson’s mother), and the Unity for today’s trip.
Spaceship Unity contained crew Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, and Branson himself.
You can watch the historic livestream event below.
Mary Anne Butler (Mab) has been part of the fast-paced world of journalism since she was 15, getting her start in album reviews and live concert coverage for a nationally published (print) music magazine. She eventually transitioned to online media, writing for such sites as UGO/IGN, ComicsOnline, Geek Magazine, Ace of Geeks, Aggressive Comix (where she is still Editor-in-Chief), Bleeding Cool (where she was News Editor), and now NerdBot as News Editor.
Over the past 10 years, she’s built a reputation at conventions across the globe as a cosplayer (occasionally), photographer (constantly), panelist and moderator (mostly), and reporter (always). Interviews, reviews, observations, breaking news, and objective reporting are the name of the game for the founder of Harkonnen Knife Fight, a Dune-themed band with an international presence.
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