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Tribune News Network
DOHA
QATAR Executive (QE), together with the One More Orbit team, has made history by beating the world circumnavigation speed record for any aircraft flying over the North and South poles, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The QE Gulfstream G650ER departed from Cape Canaveral, the home of NASA, on July 9 at 9.32am to begin its pole to pole mission. The One More Orbit team consisting of NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Action Aviation Chairman Hamish Harding was on board while the Qatar Executive crew included three pilots Jacob Obe Bech, Jeremy Ascough and Yevgen Vasylenko, engineer Benjamin Reuger and flight attendant Magdalena Starowicz.
The mission was split into four sectors; Nasa shuttle landing facility in Florida to Astana, Astana to Mauritius, Mauritius to Chile and Chile back to Nasa, Florida, with refuelling pit stops in each location. The aircraft landed at Kennedy Space Centre on Thursday (July 11), successfully setting a new world record of flying pole to pole in 46 hours and 40 minutes.
Present at the landing was Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al Baker. Baker said: “Qatar Executive, together with the One More Orbit team, has made history. A mission like this takes a huge amount of planning as we need to factor in the flight paths, fuel stops, potential weather conditions and make plans for all possibilities. Many people behind the scenes worked tirelessly to ensure this mission was a success and I am very proud that we broke the world record – a first for Qatar Executive – which will be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and Guinness World Records.
Hamish Harding said: “Our mission, titled One More Orbit, pays homage to the Apollo 11 moon landing achievement by highlighting how humans push the boundaries of aeronautics. It is our way of paying tribute to the past, the present, and the future of space exploration.”
DOHA
QATAR Executive (QE), together with the One More Orbit team, has made history by beating the world circumnavigation speed record for any aircraft flying over the North and South poles, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The QE Gulfstream G650ER departed from Cape Canaveral, the home of NASA, on July 9 at 9.32am to begin its pole to pole mission. The One More Orbit team consisting of NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Action Aviation Chairman Hamish Harding was on board while the Qatar Executive crew included three pilots Jacob Obe Bech, Jeremy Ascough and Yevgen Vasylenko, engineer Benjamin Reuger and flight attendant Magdalena Starowicz.
The mission was split into four sectors; Nasa shuttle landing facility in Florida to Astana, Astana to Mauritius, Mauritius to Chile and Chile back to Nasa, Florida, with refuelling pit stops in each location. The aircraft landed at Kennedy Space Centre on Thursday (July 11), successfully setting a new world record of flying pole to pole in 46 hours and 40 minutes.
Present at the landing was Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al Baker. Baker said: “Qatar Executive, together with the One More Orbit team, has made history. A mission like this takes a huge amount of planning as we need to factor in the flight paths, fuel stops, potential weather conditions and make plans for all possibilities. Many people behind the scenes worked tirelessly to ensure this mission was a success and I am very proud that we broke the world record – a first for Qatar Executive – which will be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and Guinness World Records.
Hamish Harding said: “Our mission, titled One More Orbit, pays homage to the Apollo 11 moon landing achievement by highlighting how humans push the boundaries of aeronautics. It is our way of paying tribute to the past, the present, and the future of space exploration.”
