Virgin Galactic has announced the first private astronaut mission, “Galactic 02,” has a launch window set on Aug. 10. It will be crewed by Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old, Olympian and early Virgin Galactic ticket holder, as well as Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, a Caribbean mother-daughter duo who won their seats in a sweepstakes that raised funds for non-profit Space for Humanity.
The three-person crew will board VSS Unity for a 90-minute flight from Spaceport America. The flight, which will be livestreamed on virgingalactic.com, marks the company's seventh spaceflight overall, its second commercial spaceflight and third spaceflight this year.
Expected Galactic 02 milestones for the VSS Unity flight include the first astronauts from the Caribbean; the first mother-daughter duo in space; the first Olympian to go to space; the second-youngest person to go to space; and the second person with Parkinson’s to go to space.
The crew includes Jon Goodwin, Astronaut 011: An 80-year-old adventurer and Olympian, Goodwin competed in the 1972 Munich games. Diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014, he will be the second person with the condition to travel to space.
Keisha Schahaff, Astronaut 012: A 46-year-old mother of two daughters, entrepreneur and health & wellness coach from Antigua and Barbuda. Beneficiary of two spaceflight seats in a historic sweepstakes which raised $1.7M in grants for non-profit Space for Humanity.
Anastatia Mayers, Astronaut 013: An 18-year-old student born and raised in Antigua and Barbuda. Student at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland in her second year studying philosophy and physics. Together with Schahaff, the two will become the first mother-daughter duo to travel to space together.
Beth Moses, Astronaut 002 and chief astronaut instructor: Will fly with the crew to assess the inflight experience while continuing to refine Virgin Galactic’s training program.
