Punters who have paid Richard Branson £100,000 each in the hope of being propelled into space some time soon saw their dream get closer yesterday when the media and travel magnate launched his Virgin Galactic Mothership.
The plane, named Eve after Branson’s mother, is designed to carry the not-yet-created SpaceShipTwo plus its passengers up to an altitude of 50,000 feet from where the shuttle will propel itself and its moneyed passengers on a two and a half hour ride into the earth’s thermosphere at three times the speed of sound.
Virgin Galactic has plans to use two of these aircraft and a fleet of five space ships from 2010. Rumoured to have put their names down for a ride of a lifetime are Princess Beatrice and Stephen Hawking.
By Dinah Hatch
