Richard Branson inspired by Apollo, his own space shot soon

Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson said Thursday his spaceship has just a few more test flights before he jumps on board for the first tourist trip.

The British billionaire celebrated his 69th birthday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center during 50th anniversary festivities for humanity's first moon landing. His guests were 100 other aspiring astronauts who have put down deposits to launch into space with Virgin Galactic. Like Branson, many in the crowd were inspired to fly into space by Apollo 11, which he called "the most audacious journey of all time."

Branson said three or four test flights will be conducted from New Mexico, beginning this fall, before engineers allow him to fly. The two suborbital test flights to date — conducted in December and February over California's Mojave Desert — provided several minutes of weightlessness.

Richard Branson makes remarks during a luncheon attended by 100 Virgin Galactic ticket holders, to mark his 69th birthday and in recognition of the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP PhotoJohn Raoux)

Branson declined to say when his flight might happen.

"My track record for giving dates has been so abysmal that I'm not giving dates anymore. But I think months, not years," he told The Associated Press.

The company is in the process of moving from Southern California to Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert near Truth or Consequences, which has set everything back four months, according to Branson. The test pilots need to practice landing there, he said, before passengers tag along.

Richard Branson makes remarks during a luncheon attended by 100 Virgin Galactic ticket holders, to mark his 69th birthday and in recognition of the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP PhotoJohn Raoux)

"I certainly won't go into space before brave test pilots feel 100% comfortable that we've checked every box," Branson said.

In 2014, the company's experimental space plane broke apart during a California test flight, killing the co-pilot.

The winged spaceship is dropped in flight from a custom-designed airplane; once free, it fires its rocket motor to hurtle toward space before gliding back to Earth like NASA's old space shuttles. The latest test flight by VSS Unity reached an altitude of 56 miles (90 kilometers) while traveling at three times the speed of sound.

Richard Branson makes remarks during a luncheon attended by 100 Virgin Galactic ticket holders, to mark his 69th birthday and in recognition of the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP PhotoJohn Raoux)

About 600 people, ranging from their teens to early 90s, have reserved a seat, according to a company spokeswoman. Tickets are $250,000.

Maryann Barry bought a ticket less than a month ago. She grew up near Cape Canaveral during the 1960s, and her late brother worked on NASA's Saturn V moon rockets. "This is my life coming full circle actually," said Barry, 58, who works for the Girl Scouts in Orlando.

When asked if she'll be afraid, Houston violinist Debbie Moran, 62, said she's trying to do everything she's ever wanted to do in life before her spaceflight in another few years.

"We all know it's not the safest thing in the world," she said. "I still have not told my mother."

"Everybody is fearful. But the point is you have to overcome the fear to get the excitement," said Arvinder Bahal, 73, a real estate investor from Boston who can't wait to see the world from afar without boundaries.

Branson said he did not remember his 19th birthday in London on July 18, 1969. But Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's moon landing on July 20, 1969, was forever etched in his memory. Watching those first lunar footsteps on a little black and white TV, with his sisters and parents in the English countryside, was a turning point for him. He said it's why Virgin Galactic exists today.

He lifted a glass of Tang — the powdered orange drink made famous on America's pioneering spaceflights — as he made "a toast to space past, space present and, even more important for us all in this room, space future."

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Five college football players at power-conference schools asked a federal judge on Monday for a preliminary injunction to play a fifth year next season.

All five have competed four seasons in four years without taking a redshirt. They are Vanderbilt linebacker Langston Patterson; kicker Nathanial Vakos, tight end Lance Mason and long snapper Nick Levy all of Wisconsin; and Nebraska long snapper Kevin Gallic.

U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell granted an injunction nearly a year ago that allowed Diego Pavia to play this season. Pavia finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up leading Vanderbilt to a 10-2 record.

Patterson testified that he asked about taking a redshirt season as a freshman and was told he was too valuable. The team captain, who graduated with his bachelor's degree three days ago, said he knew during Vanderbilt's fifth game of the season on Sept. 27 that he wouldn't be able to take a redshirt season.

These players are part of a lawsuit seeking class action status alleging the NCAA violates U.S. antitrust laws with its redshirt rule for athletes during five seasons of eligibility. The lawsuit includes seven other named plaintiffs and potentially thousands of current and former NCAA football, baseball and tennis players.

Patterson, a lead plaintiff in that lawsuit, also testified that he was asked about the status of the lawsuit during an end of year meeting with Vanderbilt’s general manager and his position coach.

Without an injunction, Patterson said Vanderbilt will turn to the transfer portal opening Jan. 2 to replace him with a linebacker with two years’ experience at a similar level to the Southeastern Conference program. Levy also testified that Wisconsin would be looking for help if no decision comes before the portal opens.

Another season gives these five players more practice and playing time with the chance to attract more NFL scouts' attention along with pursuing graduate degrees. Mason monitored the hearing remotely.

The federal judge had pointed questions on the potential “ripple effect” if he grants this injunction. The NCAA has faced a series of lawsuits since that Pavia injunction over eligibility rules.

Attorney Ryan Downton told the judge that this injunction involves five specific players ahead of the upcoming transfer portal. Downton also said courts never rule in a vacuum.

“The Pavia ruling gave players something to point to just like the Alston ruling and the O’Bannon ruling and the House settlement, " Downton said after the hearing. “What I said in there is that the NCAA has been found to be a serial violator of antitrust law, and whether the court grants or denies a preliminary injunction doesn’t change that."

Attorney Taylor Askew, arguing for the NCAA, said this injunction request comes from players who knew they were playing their final season and that the lawsuit had been mentioned as early as July before being filed in September.

Askew also noted the Sherman Act only limits unreasonable restraint on competition and said the only thing that makes eligibility rules unreasonable is that it affects the players.

“If you have eligibility rules, someone won't be eligible,” Askew told the judge.

Commissioners of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference filed a declaration Saturday asking the judge to uphold the NCAA's eligibility rules, which they said are anchored in the principle that athletics are an integral part of the academic experience in college.

“Changes to these rules could impact that fundamental principle and hinder high school student-athletes from opportunities to obtain the benefits of athletic participation,” according to the commissioners' declaration.

A previous version of this story had the wrong school for Nathanial Vakos and Lance Mason, who both played for Wisconsin.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - Vanderbilt linebacker Langston Patterson takes questions during the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days July 15, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter, File)