Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Virgin Galactic's supersonic plane reaches
space
On the ground, a continuously habitable
building that has over 40 floors and is taller than 150 meters is called a
skyscraper. There are hundreds of such tall buildings rising around the world.
In the air, commercial flights usually cruise at an altitude of above 10,000
meters. Up to these altitudes, passengers can economically and comfortably
enjoy their trip without wearing a special suit or mask. But when you want to
go higher, say 80,000 meters or above, there aren’t any commercial flights servicing
passengers, yet. This layer of earth’s atmosphere is called thermosphere
because of the high temperatures due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation
and is also regarded as space. In order to bring people up to space, a
spacecraft is needed to endure the heat, radiation and no atmosphere, not to
mention the power to ascend against gravity.
Now, two companies have been racing to
commercialize space traveling. One is Virgin Galactic by Virgin Group’s Richard
Branson and the other is Blue Origin by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Both billionaires have
spent their time and fortune to realize what has been thought as a dream trip. And
a test flight of the former entrepreneur’s spacecraft has made a successful
test flight.
Soon, you may want to go to the Spaceport
America in New Mexico, USA, the world's first purpose-built commercial
spaceport to board the spacecraft.
Enjoy reading and think when you want to see our
planet from space.
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