The entire trip to space was expected to take about an hour, meaning Branson's whole return trip to space would be shorter than some Auckland commutes. Richard Branson receives a Virgin Galactic made astronaut wings pin from Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing US$250,000 (NZ$360,000) apiece. And upon his return to Earth, Branson announced a sweepstakes drawing for two seats on a Virgin Galactic jaunt. Kerianne Flynn, who signed up in 2011 to fly with Virgin Galactic, had butterflies ahead of the launch.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 11, 2021 19:18 UTC