Yesterday, Richard Branson – the owner of Virgin Galactic and a winner of Liberty Science Center’s Genius Award – successfully soared into space via his own rocket ship!

He is the first person to ever do this, paving the way for more accessible space travel for humans.

Along with five crew mates from Virgin Galactic, Branson reached an altitude of 53 miles above the planet, allowing the crew to experience weightlessness for about four minutes.

Companies like Virgin Galactic plan on offering commercial space flight in the near future. Although the price tag for such a journey is currently around $250,000, Branson's success was a significant step forward for all of us to someday reach the stars.

Richard Branson was honored at Liberty Science Center’s Genius Gala 2.0 in 2013. “Science can change the world,” he said during his speech that night. And the world has certainly been changed after yesterday’s flight!

Click here to watch the full video of Branson’s speech at the Genius Gala.