A team of Italian researchers will be taking a ride aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane
— A team of Italian researchers expects to reach the edge of space Thursday morning, flying aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane as the company prepares for monthly commercial flights.
The flight is scheduled to launch from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, with two Italian Air Force officers and an engineer with the National Research Council of Italy focusing on a series of microgravity experiments during their few minutes of weightless.
One will wear a special suit that measures biometric data and physiological responses while another will conduct tests using sensors to track heart rate, brain function and other metrics while in microgravity.
