How to watch Richard Branson's space flight and what time is the Virgin Galactic launch?


Sarwat Nasir
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Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson is set to launch into space on Sunday in a rocket-powered space plane built by his company.

A livestream of the launch will be shown on Virgin Galactic’s website and social media channels.

If successful, the British businessman, 70, will beat rival Jeff Bezos in the billionaire space race.

“I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum told me never to give up and to reach for the stars. This July, our dreams will be becoming a reality,” he said earlier this month when his participation was announced.

The Unity 22 mission, taking off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, is the first fully crewed flight by Virgin Galactic and includes three other passengers and two pilots.

Carrier jet VMS Eve, named after Mr Branson’s mother, will release the VSS Unity space plane at an altitude of about 15,240m, which will then climb to the edge of space.

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How to watch

Timings of the flight’s key milestones have not yet been released but the livestream will begin at 6.30pm, Gulf Standard Time, on July 11.

The launch will be broadcast live on Virgin Galactic’s official website and social media channels.

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The crew will experience about four minutes of weightlessness when the plane flies at an apex of approximately 89 kilometres above the New Mexico desert.

This week, rival space tourism company Blue Origin argued that the Karman line – the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space – begins at 100km above sea level.

Mr Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, announced in June that he would fly on the New Shephard to space on July 20.

“From the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Karman line, so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name,” Blue Origin said on Twitter yesterday.

“For 96 per cent of the world’s population, space begins 100km up at the internationally recognised Karman line.

“Only 4 per cent of the world recognises a lower limit of 80km as the beginning of space. New Shepard flies above both boundaries. One of the many benefits of flying with Blue Origin.”

According to Nasa and the US Federal Aviation Administration, however, outer space begins at 80km above sea level.

Mr Branson told Reuters: “It wasn’t a race”.

"If it's a race, it's a race to produce wonderful spaceships that can make many more people be able to access space. And I think that's both of our aims,” he said.

Why is Richard Branson going to space?

This will be Virgin Galactic’s 22nd test flight and will carry a full crew of two pilots and four mission specialists.

Apart from achieving his lifelong goal of going to space, Mr Branson will test the private astronaut experience during the flight.

“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. After more than 16 years of research, engineering and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry,” he said.

“As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I’m honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin.”

More than 600 passenger tickets priced at $250,000 (Dh918,300) have been sold so far, according to Virgin Galactic.

Blue Origin auctioned off a ticket on New Shepard’s first passenger flight for $28 million last month.

Among those on board will be Mr Bezos, Wally Funk – one of the “Mercury 13” group of US women pilots who in the 1960s were qualified to be astronaut candidates but never got the opportunity – Mr Bezos’s brother Mark and the auction winner.


Jeff Bezos unveils a new system for the 'New Shepard' spacecraft - in pictures

EPL's youngest
  • Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
    15 years, 181 days old
  • Max Dowman (Arsenal)
    15 years, 235 days old
  • Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
    15 years, 271 days old
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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador

Why does a queen bee feast only on royal jelly?

Some facts about bees:

The queen bee eats only royal jelly, an extraordinary food created by worker bees so she lives much longer

The life cycle of a worker bee is from 40-60 days

A queen bee lives for 3-5 years

This allows her to lay millions of eggs and allows the continuity of the bee colony

About 20,000 honey bees and one queen populate each hive

Honey is packed with vital vitamins, minerals, enzymes, water and anti-oxidants.

Apart from honey, five other products are royal jelly, the special food bees feed their queen 

Pollen is their protein source, a super food that is nutritious, rich in amino acids

Beewax is used to construct the combs. Due to its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial elements, it is used in skin treatments

Propolis, a resin-like material produced by bees is used to make hives. It has natural antibiotic qualities so works to sterilize hive,  protects from disease, keeps their home free from germs. Also used to treat sores, infection, warts

Bee venom is used by bees to protect themselves. Has anti-inflammatory properties, sometimes used to relieve conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve and muscle pain

Honey, royal jelly, pollen have health enhancing qualities

The other three products are used for therapeutic purposes

Is beekeeping dangerous?

As long as you deal with bees gently, you will be safe, says Mohammed Al Najeh, who has worked with bees since he was a boy.

“The biggest mistake people make is they panic when they see a bee. They are small but smart creatures. If you move your hand quickly to hit the bees, this is an aggressive action and bees will defend themselves. They can sense the adrenalin in our body. But if we are calm, they are move away.”

 

 

Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​Two stars

Coming soon

Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura

When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Akira Back Dubai

Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as,  “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems. 

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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Ticket prices

General admission Dh295 (under-three free)

Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free

Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets

Updated: July 11, 2021, 11:46 AM`