Virgin Galactica

[Slim]

I suppose this is a milestone, in that space is now accessible to tourists. Very wealthy or fortunate tourists.

https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-galactic-takes-first-tourists-to-edge-of-space-12937379

Yesterday's Virgin Galactica flight took its passengers to an altitude of roughly 88km above the surface of the Earth. For perspective, the very first human spaceflight in 1961 took Gagarin to an altitude of 301km (and he completed an orbit, as well). By one measure (the FAI definition) these people didn't quite make it into space, which starts at 100km from the surface. And even there there's still a little bit of atmospheric pressure.

[David L]

A very expensive ride in a high-altitude aeroplane.
What's Branson been at for the last two decades?

[The Picnic Wasp]

When does weightlessness kick in? That's all I'd be interested in if I was obscene enough to burn all that cash. Looking at a black sky might be a tad depressing.

[Slim]

When does weightlessness kick in? That's all I'd be interested in if I was obscene enough to burn all that cash. Looking at a black sky might be a tad depressing.

Well the weightlessness aspect is not a function of the distance from the Earth, or not much. At the maximum altitude that the Virgin craft reached, Earth's gravity has about 97% (roughly) of the gravity exerted on objects on the surface.

The passengers experienced weightlessness on this flight because it flew in an arc back down toward the ground, so that the passengers were effectively in free fall. You could have the same experience in a Vomit Comet for a small fraction of the cost.