Ten Years Ago SpaceShipOne Flew To Space. When Is Richard Branson's SS2 Going Up?

Image by Frederic J. Brown/Getty

Last month, I attended a Virgin Galactic Airways event at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, part of the American Museum of Natural History. Sir Richard Branson, VG’s CEO, was there - as was Grey Goose creator Francois Thibault. The evening was to celebrate a new sponsorship arrangement between the vodka maker and the space tourism company.

In full disclosure, I am a ticketholder on an upcoming VG space flight. A few years back, when the price was $200,000, I committed a significant part of my 401(K) to purchase a ticket. The going price since has risen, to $250,000, as have flight expectations.

Every year, it seems, the launch date gets pushed back – initially it was to happen before 2010, then 2011, 2012. Now Branson, who says he will be on the very first commercial flight of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) with his family, has us believing it may be next year.

“We're nearly there,” the passionate billionaire, 64, said the other night. “It's taken an awful lot longer than we thought, but as I've now been using this phrase for some time, it IS rocket science. It IS difficult. We've had two teams working to get it right, to make sure we can build rockets that will take people to space and, more importantly, bring them back again.”

Ever the master of marketing, he added, “Soon Grey Goose will be flying with us to space and, when we get back, we’ll definitely be having a few too.”

I can't wait. But look, we get it – an early accident could destroy the entire fledgling space tourism industry. America is much more risk-averse now than, say, in the cowboy days of the barnstormer aviation industry, or even the Cold War space race, especially when civilians are involved. Witness what happened to NASA after schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was killed when Shuttle Challenger exploded just after launch in 1986.

Rather than continue to fidget, I figured it would be more productive to discuss with private astronaut Brian Binnie what a VG flight might feel like. He should know: Ten years ago this weekend (Oct. 4), he flew the private three-passenger predecessor to VG’s SS2 (called SpaceShipOne) to an altitude of 112 kilometers (space is 100 km), winning the Ansari X Prize in the process. As a result, Branson placed his $100-million order for five bigger, eight-passenger reusable spacecraft (SS2).

What Binnie describes has me all the more excited about my own flight. “The last guys to do this were X-15 crews back in the 1960s, and they liken the experience to that of bull riding,” he says with wide eyes. “When that rocket motor lights, it's as though a giant, powerful wave descends into your little cabin and literally is going to sweep you away. But, after that, it’s like catching the perfect wave.”

Five days before Binnie’s flight, astronaut Mike Melvill had experienced a number of dramatic rolls on his SS1 flight. Binnie says there was a perception that the program was out-of-control from a safety standpoint. “That's nonsense,” he assures, “it’s uncomfortable, but we wanted to demonstrate we had control over the thing. To make it worth our while, Richard Branson was there ready to sign up for SS2 if we got it right. That's what I call high anxiety.”

Binnie explains that “at the end of the rocket boost phase, there is a delicate balance between the unpredictable behavior of a dying motor and the wispy upper atmosphere, which affords little control over thrust asymmetries." But, that said, he experienced none of the rolls Melvill did.

Finally, I asked Binnie about the view up there. “The photos may be inspiring but don't do it justice," he says. “Just like rainbows and sunrises, you know what they look like but their nature isn't really revealed until you experience them. The eye is much more dynamic than any camera. There's inky blackness in one direction, in another Mojave, the Pacific Ocean. Separating the vistas is a curved blue electric ribbon of light, the atmosphere. It's pure magic and almost makes you giggle."

Okay, okay, I’m sold – again. But please Richard, let’s not make it too much longer. And let’s make the flight more like Binnie’s than Melvill’s.

(Note: Brian Binnie, now with VG competitor XCOR Aerospace, will speak at The Explorers Club Oct. 25)