A New Era in Commercial Passenger Travel will be led by British Pilot Capt. David Mackay
Virgin Galactic's SS2 will become the first commercial passenger spacecraft in history
A British pilot is set to fulfil his childhood dream by becoming the first captain to fly tourists into space.
David Mackay, 53, will be the chief pilot for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic when it begins the first sub-orbital space flights by 2013.
Over 400 passengers have already paid £125,000 for the privilege of a weightless flight 100km above the earth's surface.
The aspiring astronaut spent 16 years with the RAF before joining Virgin Atlantic in 1995, working as a captain with Virgin Atlantic.
Mr Mackay is one of just four pilots selected to become Virgin Galactic test pilots working with the development team at Virgin's Spaceport centre in the US.
The WhiteKnightTwo is a jet-powered cargo aircraft which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft carrying commercial passengers.
It will take about an hour for the mothership to reach an altitude of 50,000ft before the spacecraft it is carrying is launched.
The spaceship will then fire its rocket motor and accelerate to 2,500mph in less than a minute as it leaves the atmosphere.
Describing what the passengers will experience, Mr Mackay said: 'It will be close to 4g acceleration which is a huge push in the back.
'So it will be a very exciting rocket ride, it will last about a minute during which they will be pinned back into their seats.
'There will be an increase in noise and vibration so they'll definitely know they are heading into space.' Once the ship is 360,000ft above the planet, passengers will be allowed to unstrap their seatbelts and experience weightlessness.
They will see the Earth from above before the craft makes its return in the three-and-a-half hours journey.
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