Action Aviation Chairman Hamish Harding and Astronaut Terry Virts will attempt to beat the world record for any aircraft flying over the North and South poles from July 9 to 11.
Flying a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER aircraft, they will off-set their emissions by going carbon negative with the help of sponsor, Carbon Underground.
Who Meet the International Crew
Capt. Hamish Harding – United Kingdom, Action Aviation chairman, mission director and one of the 4 G650ER pilots; Col. Terry Virts – United States, Former International Space Station commander, Space Shuttle astronaut, Soyuz astronaut and U.S. Air Force test pilot; Capt. Jacob Ove Bech – Denmark, Pilot; Capt. Jeremy Ascough – South Africa, Pilot; Capt. Yevgen Vasilienko – Ukraine, Pilot; Magdalena Starowicz – Poland, Flight Attendant; Col. Genaddy Padalka – Russia, Cosmonaut (International Space Station commander, Mir and Soyuz cosmonaut, record holder for the most days in space by any human – 879 days); Capt. Ian Cameron – United Kingdom, Director of the Mission Control Centre.
When
The One More Orbit mission launches at 09:32 on July 9 – the same time as the historic Apollo 11 flight.
Where
The team will launch will launch from and return to Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (the former Shuttle Landing Facility) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, from where Apollo 11 launched its historic mission 50 years ago. They will do high speed, adrenaline pumping “pit stops” to refuel in Kazakhstan, Mauritius and Chile.
Why
The mission, titled One More Orbit, pays tribute to the Apollo 11 moon landing achievement, by highlighting how humans push the boundaries of aeronautics. The record is being attempted during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the 500th anniversary of man first circling the planet. It is a tribute to the past, present, and future of space exploration.
The Aircraft
The fastest ultra-long-range business jet in the world, the Gulfstream G650ER is capable of reaching Mach 0.925 and sustaining a comfortable Mach 0.90. Powered by two Rolls-Royce BR725 A1-12 Turbofans, generating 16,900 lbs of thrust, the extended range variant is capable of flying 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km) at up to 51,000 feet altitude. The Qatar Executive G650ER aircraft can easily fly non-stop from the Middle East to North America, or from destinations in Asia to Africa. It flies further, faster than any other jet of its kind – perfectly suited for the long legs of One More Orbit.
Going Carbon Negative
“The Carbon Underground is proud to be a partner of this historic mission,” says Larry Kopald, the company’s co-founder and president. “By calling attntion to one of humankind’s greatest efforts we remind ourselves of what we are capable of doing. Alleviating the existential threat of climate change by restoring the carbon balance and cycle will take a similar effort, with a similar commitment to speed.”
Sponsoring the mission are: Satcom Direct and inmarsat, which are providing the satellite bandwidth and live feed from the aircraft; G-Technology hard drives; Action Aviation leadership logistics; LiveU encoder; and Space Florida. Carbon Underground brings the means to make this mission carbon negative.
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