Virgin Galactic just started their first tourist space trips. But these flights don’t work like others you might have seen. Here’s what’s going on…

On board the first flight were two pilots, a chief astronaut instructor, and three civilian passengers. The ship they were on doesn’t take off in the way we’re used to seeing. Instead, a huge plane-like vehicle, called the “mothership” takes off on a runway with the passenger spacecraft attached to its underside. This passenger ship can reach an altitude of 55 miles, or 88 km, which is juuuuust past the boundary of space recognized by NASA – but not quite past the internationally recognized Karman Line.

And tickets can go for a whopping $450,000.

Would you want to go?

This short is part of Huge If True, our optimistic show about science and tech. Subscribe to support us and to see more!

#shorts #stem #space #airplane #rocket #virgingalactic #animation #science #astronaut #nasa