Virgin Galactic debuts Astronaut Readiness Program

Virgin Galactic unveiled its Future Astronaut Readiness Program at the global headquarters of Under Armour, who are providing the spacesuits for all Virgin Galactic’s customers. A number of Future astronauts, who will be among the first to participate in space flight with Virgin Galactic, were in attendance and underwent guidance and instruction from a number of key team members, as well as carrying out certain flight preparation activities.

For those in attendance, the most exciting part of the experience was being fitted for their personal space suits, which will then be ready for them when they venture into space. All passengers will then be allowed to keep their space suit after they have completed their space flight from Spaceport America. In a press release issued by Virgin Galactic” it stated that: “As part of the Readiness Program, in sessions led by Chief Astronaut Instructor, Beth Moses, and Chief Pilot, Dave Mackay, we shared more detailed information with Future Astronauts about what to expect from preparation time at Spaceport America and from the spaceflight itself. Both Beth and Dave flew to space in February this year, so were able to provide exciting insights based on actual experience.”

All future astronauts will have to undergo rigorous training, meet specific fitness levels that are applicable to all government space agency astronauts, and will also be subject to a rigorous medical examination and specially designed medical consultations from the in-house medical team. In the press release, George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic, said: ‘’Introducing our Astronaut Readiness Program to our first customers marks an exciting point in our journey as we move closer to the start of commercial service. It is an important step in the process to ensure that our customers are prepared and equipped with the knowledge and training that will help ensure that they savor every second of their spaceflight which we hope will go beyond expectations. My introduction to Virgin Galactic was as a customer, so I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of involving Future Astronauts as we prepare each individual for the trip of a lifetime.’’

Currently, Virgin Galactic has over 600 Future Astronauts from 60 countries signed up to fly on its SpaceShipTwo.