Team Set To Depart Shuttle Landing Facility In Florida Tuesday

One More Orbit is a multinational attempt to break the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via both poles, in a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER ultra long-range business jet.

The record is being attempted during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing, as a tribute to the past, present, and future of space exploration.

The team will launch and complete the record attempt at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility (the former Shuttle Landing Facility) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where Apollo 11 launched their historic mission 50 years ago. The mission will start at 09:32 EDT, the same time as Apollo 11, on July 9.

The speed record will be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and Guinness World Records.

The G650ER is capable of reaching Mach 0.925 and sustaining a comfortable Mach 0.90. Powered by two Rolls-Royce BR725 A1-12 Turbofans delivering 16,900 pounds of thrust, the extended range variant is capable of flying 7,500 nautical miles at up to 51,000ft.

The circumnavigation attempt will cross both the North and South Poles, making planned 45-minute fuel stops in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Port Louis, Mauritius and Punta Arenas, Chile.

The effort is being led by former NASA Astronaut Terry Virts, who will join the flight in Kazakhstan along with Russian Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. Four pilots will fly the entire mission, They are:

- Capt. Hamish Harding (United Kingdom), Mission Director and Chairman of the aviation consulting business Action Aviation.
- Capt. Jacob Ove Bech (Denmark)
- Capt. Jeremy Ascough (South Africa)
- Capt. Yevgen Vasylenko (Ukraine)

Ars Technica reports that the previous record was set in 2008 with a Bombardier Global Express jet, which completed the circumnavigation with an average speed of 511 mph. Virts hopes to make the journey at an average speed of 516 mph, which would break the record by 23 minutes.

The attempt will be livestreamed on YouTube on the One More Orbit website.

(Terry Virts pictured in NASA image aboard the ISS. G650ER pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.onemoreorbit.com
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