Virgin Galactic Unity 23 is a planned

sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

of the

SpaceShipTwo The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo is car ...

-class VSS ''Unity'' which is intended to launch in 2023. It is a research mission for the Italian Air Force. The crew will consist of pilots

Frederick Sturckow Frederick Wilford Sturckow (born August 11, 1961) is an engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former NASA astronaut, and commercial spacecraft pilot. Sturckow is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. He flew on STS-88 and STS-1 ...

and Michael Masucci as well as crewmembers

Beth Moses Beth Moses is Chief Astronaut Instructor and Interiors Program Manager for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo program, and is a Commercial Astronaut, as classified by the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the first woman to make a spaceflight ...

, Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi, and Pantaleone Carlucci. The flight was postponed from its original planned October 2021 flight date for Virgin Galactic to upgrade its SpaceShipTwo vehicles. During the flight, Villadei is expected to wear a suit to measure biometric data and his physiological responses to spaceflight. Landolfi will carry out experiments on the effects of microgravity on cognitive performance along with its effects on how materials mix. Carlucci's heart rate and other metrics will be monitored through sensors during the flight.

Crew

References

External links

N202VG Virgin Galactic 1 Flight tracking history log
{{Virgin Galactic 2023 in spaceflight SpaceShipTwo Test spaceflights Future human spaceflights Aviation history of the United States Suborbital human spaceflights 2023 in New Mexico 2023 in aviation