Virgin Galactic has announced the four-person crew that can fly aboard the corporate’s first business spaceflight.
The mission, Galactic 01, is scheduled take off from Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in Recent Mexico sometime after 11 a.m. EDT (1600 GMT) on Thursday (June 29). VSS Unity reaches suborbital flight through the assistance of a double-bodied carrier aircraft called VMS Eve, which takes off from a runway at Spaceport America. Once at an altitude around 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) VSS Unity is released from Eve, after which it fires its rocket engine and travels the remainder of the approach to space by itself. The suborbital flight lasts long enough to grant the Galactic 01 crew members a number of minutes of weightlessness, and a probability to perform their handful of research experiments.
Today, Virgin Galactic has announced who will probably be riding aboard for the corporate’s first business mission. Riding aboard the corporate’s reusable SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, will probably be Virgin Galactic’s Colin Bennett and a trio from the Italian Air Force and the nation’s National Research Council who will collect data for numerous scientific investigations during their flight.
Related: Who’s Virgin Galactic and what do they do?
Col. Walter Villadei
A member of the Italian Air Force, Col. Walter Villadei is serving as commander for Italy’s VIRTUTE 1 mission, which incorporates research being conducted for the Italian National Research Council (CNR). This will probably be Villadei’s first spaceflight, but his training as an astronaut is extensive.
Villadei has received training at NASA and thru Axiom Space, and was certified as a backup pilot for Axiom’s recent Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). His training has also gained him qualifications to fly on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, operate ISS systems and perform extravehicular activities (EVAs) in Russia’s Orlan spacesuit. Villadei can also be using Galactic 01 as a training for a future mission to the ISS.
In Virgin’s press release, Villadei described the VIRTUTE 1 mission as a proving-ground for suborbital flight opportunities awaiting Italy and Europe, calling it “a breakthrough and pathfinder mission, conceived and designed with Italian National Research Council and Virgin Galactic to check the flexibility of suborbital spaceflight for scientific and technological research,” adding, “Suborbital spaceflight will revolutionize aeronautics transportation in the long run, expanding access to space for a much larger community.”
As VIRTUTE 1 commander, Villadei will probably be accountable for the payload rack aboard Unity, which was specially fitted to expand the research being conducted during their spaceflight. Villadei may even wear a biometric data suit for the mission, which is able to track numerous physiological responses that occur in microgravity.
Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi
Like Villadei, Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi also hails from the Italian Air Force. Landolfi is a physician with a various medical background. Amongst others, he holds degrees in public health, preventative medicine, forensic medicine and diving and hyperbaric medicine. Landolfi has also received training as a flight surgeon under the cosmonaut trainming program. He’s serving as considered one of Galactic 01’s payload specialists.
Once Unity reaches suborbital space, Landolfi and crew could have only a handful of minutes to experience weightlessness. As a part of VIRTUTE 1, Landolfi will conduct numerous observations to measure his cognitive performance and may even run an experiment which is investigating how specific solids and liquids mix in microgravity.
Pantaleone Carlucci
Pantaleone Carlucci is joining the Galactic 01 mission from the CNR as a payload specialist and flight engineer. He has a background as a pilot and technical engineer working on scientific instruments and aircraft. Currently on the CNR, Carlucci is a strategic project coordinator for the council’s stratospheric and air launch platforms.
He has spent the past 8 years with the CNR, and has been instrumental in constructing the business partnerships the council maintains with corporations within the aerospace industry. During Galactic 01, Carlucci will wear a collection of body sensors, which is able to measure data metrics resembling cognitive function and heart rate.
Colin Bennett
Bennett has trained the Galactic 01 crew from their outset. He’s Virgin Galactic’s astronaut 003, and is currently lead astronaut instructor for the corporate. Bennett flew with company founder Sir Richard Branson on Unity’s final qualifying test flight, and in his fifteen years with Virgin Galactic has served roles including mission control Flight Director.
Bennett’s focus during Galactic 01 will probably be barely different than his Italian crewmates. Moderately than assist of their research activities, Bennett will probably be assessing the crew’s experiences while conducting their investigations.
VSS Unity Pilots
Mike Masucci and Nicola Pecile will probably be the Virgin Galactic crew within the cockpit of the VSS Unity spaceplane. Masucci is designated as Unity commander, and has flown to space 4 times aboard the Virgin Galactic spacecraft. Before his time with Virgin, Masucci served as a lieutenant colonel for the USA Air Force.
Pecile will fly as Unity pilot. He also served as a lieutenant colonel for the Italian Air Force. Based on Virgin’s website, Pecile has logged greater than 7,700 flight hours in 170 different style of aircraft. This will probably be Pecile’s first time to space.
VMS Eve Pilots
While not technically a part of the six-person crew, two other pilots will probably be involved within the mission by flying the mothership that can drop VMS Unity once it reaches its goal altitude. Kelly Latimer and Jameel Janjua will take the helm at VMS Eve’s double cockpits. Between them, they carry over 60 cumulative years of flight experience.
Latimer was the primary research pilot accepted at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Her move to Virgin landed her within the pilot’s chair for Virgin Orbit’s first successful launch in 2021, and she is going to function commander aboard VMS Eve for the upcoming Galactic 01 flight.
Janjua is a retired Canadian Air Force Major with an in depth background as a test pilot. He has a masters of science in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and can fly as VMS Eve’s pilot during Galactic 01.
Virgin Galactic is planning to livestream the launch on their website. Based on Monday’s release, the stream is anticipated to start around 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). The corporate’s second business flight, Galactic 2, is anticipated in early August, and can kickoff what Virgin hopes to be a monthly cadence of launches from there.