Tycoons’ space race

Call it a space race for billionaires: British mogul Richard Branson one-upped rival Jeff Bezos on Thursday, announcing that he too will blast beyond Earth's atmosphere -- as many as nine days ahead of the Amazon founder. The announcement follows Bezo's proclamation in early June that he and his brother would be part of the crew on the first manned flight aboard his company Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle. Virgin Galactic announced Branson would be aboard the SpaceShipTwo Unity, which will go to space as early as July 11, "pending weather and technical checks." Bezos said he would travel to space on July 20.