Mom & Daughter Among 6 Tourists in Successful Space Travel!

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity has made history by taking the first group of tourists to space and successfully landing them back on Earth. This incredible journey, known as Galactic 02, began at Spaceport America in New Mexico, lifting off around 11 AM ET. The space plane was commanded by former NASA astronaut CJ Sturckow, with pilot Kelly Latimer, and Beth Moses, who had trained the crew. 

Image Source: Virgin Galactic

Among the passengers were three private individuals, including health and wellness coach Keisha Schahaff and her 18-year-old daughter Anastasia Mayers. Schahaff won her seat through a fundraising competition by the non-profit organization Space for Humanity. Anastasia, who studies philosophy and physics at Aberdeen University in Scotland, and her mother are the first mother-daughter duo to venture into space together.

This mission also set a record for the most women flying on a single space mission. Among them was former Olympian Jon Goodwin, who at 80 years old, became the second person with Parkinson's disease to travel to space. He described the experience as magical and a testament to his determination to live life fully despite his diagnosis.

Galactic 02 was a suborbital flight, meaning that while VSS Unity didn't reach full orbit, the trajectory allowed passengers to experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the Earth's curvature. Live footage inside the spacecraft revealed passengers unstrapping themselves from their seats to float and gaze out of the windows at our planet from above.