Unless you have six or seven figures of spare change sitting in an ISA, chances are you won't be joining the next generation of space tourists any time soon. In 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos briefly left the planet on his Blue Origin spacecraft, and before him, Virgin's Richard Branson fulfilled a decades-old promise to himself by flying aboard VSS Unity beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Whatever your view of the billionaire space race, there's one question we all have: what's it really like? One person uniquely qualified to describe the experience is David Mackay, chief pilot at Virgin Galactic. The former RAF test pilot was in the pilot's seat for Branson's trip in July 2021, which marked the third time that he himself had flown into low-Earth orbit. Here, the first native-born Scot to leave our atmosphere takes us on a trip into low-Earth orbit.
Tell us what it's like when you release from the mothership at altitude and that rocket fires.
That's when the vehicle comes alive. There's no punch in the back. It just comes on and runs up to very high acceleration, about 3G longitudinal acceleration, which is hard for people to understand. It's smooth. It's not very loud, because of course you're leaving a lot of the sound behind you. In about eight seconds you go supersonic and you end up over Mach 3. At the end of boost, we pitch up vertically and then you're pointing straight up, still with this amazing acceleration - but again it's extremely smooth. And then you find yourself weightless.
What's the best view?
This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Very Interesting.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Very Interesting.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
COULD ONE BOMB DESTROY THE WORLD?
How big a bang are arms manufacturers capable of creating?
THE THREAT OF DAY ZERO
Queues at public water taps could become normal. What can we do to avoid them?
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
The hit TV show The Last of Us imagined an apocalypse caused by a Cordyceps fungus turning humans into zombies. For many insects, real life isn't much different...
Jazz could be the key to understanding quantum physics
An improvising soloist can play any note they want next. At the quantum level, electrons have a similar freedom
CAN SCIENCE TURN A NIGHT OWL INTO A MORNING LARK?
If you're a night owl, you probably have a hard time dealing with a world that starts at 8am. But can science help you tinker with your body clock to make it easier to rise with the larks?
Killer asteroids: how safe are we, really?
A new study suggests we're safe from big impacts, but it's the small ones we have to worry about
THE MOST COLOURFUL SIGHTS ON EARTH
Long-distance travel is lovely, but it saves a bit of cash if we bring some of the planet's most spectacular natural places to you
DO YOUR GENES INFLUENCE YOUR TASTE IN FOOD?
How DNA plays a role in shaping your menu choices
HOW TO THINK RATIONALLY ABOUT AI
The entire planet is hooked on the conversation about AI and its sinister future. But if you ask those in the know (and we have), our future with machines looks entirely different to what the world's CEOs would have us believe. Here's how to stop worrying and maybe learn to love AI...
Dark Earth: scientists unveil a new 'secret weapon' to combat deforestation
Ancient soil from the heart of the Amazon could help restore the planet's depleted rainforests