Richard Branson and family scheduled for 2011 spaceflight

    Richard Branson,  founder of Virgin Galactic, will be carrying his family on the first flight of SpaceshipTwo in 2011. Branson signed a deal with Burt Rutan in 2005 to begin building a fleet of suborbital spacecraft to carry passengers into space. The 60 ft long spacecraft, the successor to SpaceshipOne will be carried aloft to 60,000 feet by another aircraft before igniting its' engines and flying the passengers into suborbital space. The edge of space is commonly accepted as about 60,000 feet or 12 miles. SpaceshipOne reached an altitude of 328,000 feet in 2004 and won the Ansari prize.The flight will only last minutes before returning to the New Mexico home base. The crew should experience zero g and have the opportunity to see a stunning view through the extra large ports on the craft. Tickets for a flight are already being sold at 200,000 dollars each. Virgin Galactic has 80,000 people signed up as of now, each placed a 20,000 dollar deposit.