The first passenger flights to leave for the space by Virgin Galactic is due sometime in 2013 and guess who the first person to board it?
Sir Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin group, his son Sam and daughter Holly will accompany him on a 60-mile journey into space on the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) aircraft next year.
"I can't wait to go up. The whole family plans to travel out to New Mexico with me." Branson told reporters.
The space tourism program, which is expected to take off next year, has a list of celebrities including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Tom Hanks who have all expressed and showed interest in becoming the first one to travel space.
Around 120 tourists have enrolled in the space program for the two-hour flight which cost around $200,000 a trip.
"We've had plenty of adventures in the air, but they all feel like a precursor to the greatest journey of them all - space," reported Breaking Travel News.
"I was 19 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, and have always thought that was only the beginning," Branson wrote on his blog. "My whole generation grew up anticipating the day space travel would be possible, and it is now drawing near.
"The pioneers of flying are among the most inspirational of people, and I hope we can in some small way arouse an interest in aviation to some future pioneers this week. At Virgin the sky is no longer the limit."
After 80 test flights, White Knight Two project has got the permission from the American aviation authority the FAA to do an experimental launch.
The two-hour flight time which includes takeoff and landing will provide a lot of time for the SS2 passengers to feel out-of seat weightlessness at the height of 50,000 feet when White Knight Two will release SpaceShipTwo for a rocket ride away from the Earth's surface.
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