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Virgin Galactic reveals inside of spaceship that will carry tourists off the Earth

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 28 July 2020 18:10 BST
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Virgin Galactic reveals inside of spaceship that will carry tourists off the Earth

Virgin Galactic has revealed the inside of the spacecraft that will be used to carry its tourists off the Earth.

During a live reveal, it showed the interior of its first SpaceShipTwo vehicle, known as VSS Unity.

The company said that the craft had been designed by looking at other disciplines, "from aircraft cabins [...] to fitness classes".

It includes a host of features intended to ensure that tourists are safe and comfortable as they take their trips into space, including special seats that can manage the force that people are subject to. It has also been built specifically to allow for easy movement in weightlessness as passengers are carried out of the usual pull of Earth's gravity.

The interior also uses technology more aligned with traditional flights, such as seat back screens that show live flight data and lights that alter as the craft moves through different phases of the flight.

Tourists will also be able to look at Earth through 12 cabin windows, and the interior will also include 16 cameras intended to capture images.

Those can be used to gather everything from the "first Instagram posts" to neatly edited videos of the whole journey, Virgin Galactic said, indicating that the 600 "Future Astronauts" who are already signed up to take journeys on the spacecraft had stressed the importance of having their trips documented.

Passengers will also be able to look at a large mirror towards the back of the plane, which will allow people to see themselves experiencing weightlessness.

Virgin Galactic already revealed the spacesuits – created in collaboration with Under Armour – that those passengers will wear as they head into space.

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