| Operator | Virgin Galactic |
|---|---|
| Mission duration | 14 min and 20 second |
| Suborbital apogee | 87.2 km (54.2 mi) |
| Spacecraft | VSS Unity |
| SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity |
| Manufacturer | The Spaceship Company |
| Crew members | Michael Masucci Kelly Latimer Colin Bennett Alan Stern Kellie Gerardi Ketty Maisonrouge |
| Launch date | 2 November 2023, 15:00 UTC |
| Launch site | Spaceport America Runway 34 |
| Deployment from | VMS Eve |
| Landing date | 2 November 2023, 15:59 UTC |
| Landing site | Spaceport America Runway 34 |
| Programme | VSS Unity spaceflights |
| Previous mission | Galactic 04 |
| Next mission | Galactic 06 |
| Insignia | File:Virgin Galactic - Galactic 5 Patch.png |
Galactic 05 was a crewed sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity, which launched on 2 November 2023. It was the fifth commercial spaceflight and tenth overall spaceflight for American aerospace company Virgin Galactic.[1]
Crew
Galactic 05's crew included three private passengers and three Virgin Galactic employees.
Stern performed studies of human body's reaction to zero-gravity by wearing a biomedical monitoring harness. He also wanted to develop in-space operation of a particular high-tech camera that is planned to be used on an astronomical research mission in the future by NASA. His flight and research were financed by Southwest Research Institute.[2]
Gerardi flew the Galactic 05 mission as a payload specialist doing scientific research with Alan Stern, a private passenger also on board. Onboard, Gerardi operated three biomedical and thermodynamic fluid experiments on behalf of IIAS (International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, a private international education and research facility). Gerardi operated a fluid cell designed to help better predict and control the shape and location of fluid within a container in microgravity. She also wore the Astroskin biomonitoring device to collect a wide range of biometric data during her flight. A third experiment studied insulin-resistance during spaceflight, and Gerardi wore a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to measure and store glucose readings. Her flight was paid for by IIAS and the research done was developed by National Research Council of Canada.[2][3]
See also
References
- ^ Virgin Galactic (2 November 2023). "VIRGIN GALACTIC COMPLETES SIXTH SUCCESSFUL SPACEFLIGHT IN SIX MONTHS". Virgin Galactic. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ Harwood, William (November 2, 2023). "Virgin Galactic launches fifth commercial flight to sub-orbital space and back". CBS News. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Etherington, Darrell (2021-06-03). "Virgin Galactic to fly Kellie Gerardi to space on a dedicated research mission". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-06-02.