For a showman like Richard Branson his space voyage is more than a publicity stunt
Richard Branson’s moment of destiny in space will happen 50 miles above a town called Truth or Consequences.
In the high desert of New Mexico, a dream that was born when Branson watched the moon landing two days after his 19th birthday will, he hopes, finally be realised.
It has been a long journey for the billionaire, and this vertical journey will take place more than a decade after he had originally envisaged it happening.
That seems irrelevant now as – hours before England’s footballers hope to make history at Wembley – Branson expects to reach his own pinnacle as the first billionaire space tourism tycoon to become an astronaut.
His wife and family will be there to watch.
Hours before take-off, it was somewhat humbling to stand under the rocket of his space ship Unity.
Slung beneath its mothership, the small plane-like craft almost looks too flimsy for the mission.
In the air-conditioned cool of the Spaceport America hangar, the final touches were being added before take-off in the blistering heat just after dawn.
Virgin Galactic’s passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, near Truth and Consequences, New Mexico
Two pilots, three mission specialists and one tycoon will shoot vertically at three times the speed of sound for a few minutes of zero gravity, an unrivalled view of the earth and an equally rapid start to their descent.
All being well they will glide back to the runway.
Branson will beat Amazon founder Jeff Bezos into space by nine days and few can really believe his claim that winning the race doesn’t matter to him.
Branson and his team of fellow astronauts. Pic: AP
Bezos’s Blue Origin team have raised questions about whether Branson will actually reach space at all.
They subscribe to the view of some that 62 miles up is the real deal, while Branson is happy to take NASA‘s judgment that an altitude of 50 miles makes an astronaut.
But for a lifelong showman like Branson this is more than a mere publicity stunt or even a realisation of that childhood dream.
Taking a seat aboard will send a message to the hundreds who have put down tens of thousands of pounds to secure a seat that their journey will happen and will be safe.
Virgin’s Unity spaceship. Pic: AP
No one can discount the risks. Seven years ago a pilot died when one of Unity’s predecessors broke up during a test flight. Space, as they always say, is hard.
For Branson this is as much about business as any high ideals of opening space up to the rest of us.
You still have to be very rich to even dream of joining any of the commercial missions.
And there is no denying that a successful mission for Branson will signify a new era in space travel.
A woman is suing Disney over claims a water slide at one of its theme parks left her with serious injuries.
In a lawsuit filed in Orange County, Florida, last week, the woman claims the Humunga Kowabunga slide at Walt Disney World gave her “severe vaginal lacerations”.
Warning: The article below contains details some people may find distressing
After going on the ride at Typhoon Lagoon as part of her 30th birthday celebrations in 2019, she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital before being moved to another that specialised in gynaecological injuries, court documents say.
There medics found she had a “full thickness laceration” of the vagina, which “caused the plaintiff’s bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall and damage her internal organs”.
She is seeking $50,000 (£41,400) in damages from Disney, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reports. The lawsuit said the Humunga Kowabunga slide puts riders at risk of a “painful wedgie”.
According to court documents, she went on the ride wearing a one-piece swimming costume with her mother and daughter after being instructed to cross her legs.
“The slide caused [her] clothing to be painfully forced between her legs and for water to be violently forced inside her,” the documents read.
“She experienced immediate and severe pain internally and, as she stood up, blood began rushing from between her legs.”
Another attraction at Typhoon Lagoon
Read more from Sky News:
Woman’s remains found in alligator’s mouth identified
Escaped black bear forces Disney World to close
It adds that “risk of injury as a consequence of water being forced inside a woman’s body” is “far greater than it is for a man”.
Disney has not responded to NBC News’s requests for comment.
Humunga Kowabunga is Typhoon Lagoon’s fastest and steepest waterslide. It sends people down a five-storey descent at speeds of up to 40mph, according to Disney’s website.
The theme park was built in 1989.
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