Virgin Galactic shows off passenger spaceship cabin interior

Passengers flying Virgin Galactic on suborbital trips into will be able to see mselves floating weightless against backdrop of Earth below while 16 cameras document ventures, company said Tuesday.

Highly detailed amenities to enhance customer flight experience were shown in an online event revealing cabin of company’s rocket plane, a called ShipTwo, which is undergoing testing in preparation for commercial service.

re are a dozen windows for viewing, seats that will be customized for each flight's six passengers and capable of justing for G forces, and, naturally, mood lighting.

Yet designer Jeremy Brown said passengers’ most lasting impression may come from a large mirror at rear of cabin.

“We think that re’s a real memory burn that customers are going to have when y see that analog reflection of mselves in back of cabin, seeing mselves floating freely in ... that very personal interaction that y’ll have with experience,” he said.

Virgin Galactic was founded by British billionaire Richard Branson after prize-winning flights of experimental ShipOne in 2004. Branson plans to be first passenger when commercial flights begin.

Like its predecessor, ShipTwo is a rocket plane that is slung beneath a special jet airplane and released at high altitude.

After a moment of free fall, two pilots ignite rocket and craft pitches up and accelerates vertically at supersonic speed.

rocket shuts down but momentum carries craft into lower reaches of where it flips upside down so that windows on roof of cabin give a view of Earth far below.

passengers, cl in suits designed by Under Armour company, will be able to leave ir seats and float about cabin, using handholds tested by chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses during Virgin Galactic’s second flight into last year.

test was aimed at helping finalize design and at learning how to train passenger astronauts for what y will experience as y become weightless and reach top of flight profile, kwn as its apogee, before descent begins.

Moses said she tested different ways of getting in and out of seats, moved around cabin and waved at mirror, concluding that it was t disorienting.

“I also purposely went to a point in cabin to most dramatically try to enjoy apogee and a view of Earth from stillness of ,” she said.

passengers will need to return to ir seats after a few minutes as craft reorients and begins to interact with increasing density of atmosphere and n glides to an unpowered landing.

ShipTwo was developed at Virgin Galactic facilities in Mojave, California, and will operate commercially from port America in sourn New Mexico, where passengers will undergo several days of training before ir flights.

George Whitesides, former longtime company CEO who is w its chief officer, said upcoming test flights will include four crew members playing role of passengers.

Whitesides, who will w focus on future techlogy, recently handed CEO role to Michael Colglazier, a former president and managing director of Disney Parks International.

company has yet to set a date for flights with paying passengers.

company has said more than 600 people have put down deposits. initial seats were sold at $250,000 apiece. Whitesides said cost may increase for a while but long-term goal is to make venture more accessible, possibly at a lower cost.