Science News Roundup: Factbox: Branson, Bezos and Musk - three space tourism pioneers; Billionaire Branson set to fly to space aboard Virgin Galactic rocket plane and more

Branson's Virgin Galactic Holding Inc is due on Sunday to send the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, on its first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space, with the British billionaire founder among the six individuals strapping in for the ride. Factbox-Bezos, Branson and Musk: Who is winning the space tourism race? Three billionaire entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson - are each vying to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Factbox: Branson, Bezos and Musk - three space tourism pioneers

Three billionaire entrepreneurs - Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk - are competing to usher in a new era of commercial space tourism. Here is how their rival ventures compare in the race to open the final frontier to wealthy, would-be citizen astronauts.

Billionaire Branson set to fly to space aboard Virgin Galactic rocket plane

Decades after burnishing his reputation as a wealthy daredevil mogul in a series of boating and hot-air balloon expeditions, Richard Branson is poised to promote his burgeoning astro-tourism venture by launching himself to the final frontier. Branson's Virgin Galactic Holding Inc is due on Sunday to send the company's passenger rocket plane, the VSS Unity, on its first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space, with the British billionaire founder among the six individuals strapping in for the ride.

Factbox-Bezos, Branson and Musk: Who is winning the space tourism race?

Three billionaire entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson - are each vying to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel. Here is how their rival ventures compare in the race to open up space travel.

Vaccines may curb new virus mutations; teens use soft drinks to fake positive COVID-19 tests

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. COVID-19 vaccines may be curbing new virus mutations