Virgin Galactic has made major headway on the development of SpaceShipTwo, a space vehicle that the travel giant will use to take customers on suborbital journeys around Earth’s atmosphere and back. More than 15 years after Virgin Galactic was founded by Richard Branson, the company finally reveals interiors of its hotly anticipated passenger spacecraft VSS Unity. The company tapped London design studio Seymourpowell, which has experience designing private jet interiors but “purposely didn’t look to aviation or automotive for inspiration,” says Jeremy White, the agency’s director of transport. Rather, they started with a clean slate that takes cues from Virgin Atlantic airplanes.

Frequent fliers often contend with limited personal space, but SpaceShipTwo makes the most out of cozy dimensions with amenities that perhaps justify the $250,000 price tag for a journey. Each moodlit spacecraft features eight seats, made out of aluminum and carbon fiber, which will be adjusted specifically to fit each passenger’s body measurements to ensure safe harnessing against high gravitational forces. Giant circular windows, meanwhile, offer stellar views back down to Earth. Sometime on the journey, passengers will be released from their chairs to freely float around the cabin, with seats reclining as flat as possible to remove obstacles from the “zero-gravity playground.” Cameras planted throughout record keepsakes of the experience, and a large interior mirror lets passengers witness themselves floating in space firsthand.

Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 and hoped to start flying passengers in 2009, but its development was beset by logistical and financial difficulties, with a 2014 test flight even proving deadly. While a major leap forward and a challenge to space tourism competitors SpaceX and Blue Origin, helmed by Tesla and Amazon, respectively, no launch date has been set for the first commercial flight. Branson, who is expected to be aboard, has been itching to launch himself into space for some time. In a 2016 interview with Surface, he said “I love a challenge and the initial one was to build a spacecraft that our families can go into space on. Seven hundred engineers are now working on it and we’re building rockets and satellites.” Three years later, he predicted the first trip would happen “in months, not years.”

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When: Aug. 7–Jan. 31, 2021

Where: Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York

What: As a poignant commentary on capital punishment, the American artist researched, staged, and photographed the last meals and statements of 23 Death Row inmates. At first glance, the images may appear as staged food photography that wouldn’t look out-of-place on a diner menu, but suspended against a stark black background with no suggestion of human aspects of mealtime, each becomes a macabre still life. “I use photography because of its ability to stop time,” says Black. “A meal conjures memories. Looking at mortality encourages and engenders a love of life and appreciation for living and enjoying each moment.”

Therese and Regina Virserius’s design ethos is joy. The Swedish-born sister duo behind the namesake studio inject playful elements of color and pop art into their hospitality spaces with the intention of provoking convivial feelings in the patrons who frequent them. From The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’s jewel tones and bold patterns to W Atlanta’s floral motifs and digital wall coverings, Virserius designs with youthful energy. The sisters tell us about their art-world backgrounds, Swedish upbringing, and the challenges of working with kin.

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