Virgin Galactic is a company with plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the public, if they can afford the cost of the ticket: $200,000 per person with a $20,000 deposit. The craft will hold six passengers and two pilots. It is planned to go to a sub-orbital height of 68 miles (360,000 feet 70,000 feet). The passengers and crew will be weightless for up to 6 minutes.
While 70,000 feet sounds really high, how does it compare to other spacecraft? DVICE has posted an infographic which answers the question “How high will Virgin Galactic really go?” Just for the record, the U-2 spyplane flies at 70,000+ ft.
via : Infographic: How high will Virgin Galactic really go? @ DVICE
The space shuttle’s maximum altitude is about 330 miles or 528 km, not 600 miles. As stated on NASA’s website:
The exact speed depends on the Space Shuttle’s orbital altitude, which normally ranges from 190 miles to 330 miles (304 kilometers to 528 kilometers) above sea level, depending on its mission.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html#14
Yeah, that is a cut-and-paste error from the height that the U-2 can fly. Thanks for catching that.
I just wanted to make a quick correction to your story.
The Virgin Galactic spaceship will NOT fly to a mere 70,000 feet. At 68 miles up it should be reaching altitudes of 360,000 feet.