Virgin Galactic completes final spaceflight before two-year pause
How many passengers and crew members were on board Virgin Galactic's final flight before the pause, and can you identify them?
There were four people on board Virgin Galactic's final flight before the pause: two pilots and two passengers. The passengers were Tuva Atasever, a Turkish space agency astronaut, and Anand "Andy" Harish Sadhwani, a propulsion engineer at SpaceX. The pilots were not identified in the provided information.
What was the duration and the flight path of Virgin Galactic's last spaceflight before the operational hiatus?
Virgin Galactic's last spaceflight before the operational hiatus took off from the runway at 8:31 am Mountain Time and climbed to an altitude of some 44,500 feet (13,500 meters) over approximately 50 minutes. The spaceplane then soared at supersonic speed to the edge of space, where passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and admired the Earth's curve, before landing on the same runway at 9:41 am. The flight was the company's seventh commercial flight and took place in New Mexico.
What experiments and equipment did Tuva Atasever use during the flight, and what was the purpose of these experiments?
During the flight, Tuva Atasever conducted seven experiments. Three of these experiments took place in-flight with payloads embedded in his custom-built flight suit.
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BEACON-R (Behavioral, Affective, Cognitive and Neurophysiological Responses to Spaceflight): This experiment involved wearing a custom-developed brain and physiological monitoring system originally developed for NASA and used in extreme environments, including parabolic flight. The headgear secured brain activity-monitoring sensors to Tuva's head and had electrode pads and leads for monitoring heart activity. This experiment aimed to understand the mechanics behind spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) and study emotional and physiological responses associated with the 'Overview Effect'.
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IvmeRad: This experiment involved a wearable, smart, and active personal ionizing radiation dosimeter adapted to spaceflight. The device was designed with support from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) for use in hospitals and radiological centers. IvmeRad applies Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to dosimetry to create an affordable, lightweight, and easy-to-use device that actively tracks exposure and identifies potential hazards faster than traditional methods.
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Axiom Space and TUA – Suborbital Testing of Insulin Pens: This experiment involved two commercially available insulin pens, which were secured in a custom 3D-printed container during the flight. Tuva was tasked with retaining the insulin pens in his flight suit, dialing an insulin dose, and dispensing insulin from each pen into a collection container to study the accuracy of dose dispensation in microgravity.
Additionally, Tuva participated in four human physiology research investigations carried out by Turkish researchers5. These investigations aimed to identify epigenetic and immune system responses, metabolic alterations, myeloid-derived suppressor cell behaviors, and extracellular vesicle changes during suborbital spaceflight.