Lottery-winning beneficiary: I'm heading to space

An Auckland beneficiary who bought a lottery ticket on a whim is more than $5 million better off and hopes to travel into space.


The man, who wants to remain anonymous, was on a bike ride when he had a spur of the moment drink stop outside the Westview Superette in Titirangi, NZ Lotteries said.

After seeing an advertisement for the Big Wednesday jackpot, he bought a ticket, and yesterday discovered he was the big winner.

He won the first division prize package valued at $5,247,140, comprising $3 million in cash, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, an Audi Q7, a $250,000 credit card, $250,000 worth of luxury travel, a $500,000 bach, a $750,000 luxury apartment and a boat.

He also won Big Wednesday's second division of $221,478 by covering heads and tails on his ticket.

The man collected his prize in Wellington today.

"People have always told me that you can't win these big prizes - but now I'm the lucky bugger this week", he said.

"I also want to look at travelling in real style - by booking a trip into space. It would be great to one of the first kiwis to make that trip."

Virgin founder Richard Branson is finalising plans to take paying passengers into space next year.

Virgin Galactic will take people 112km above the earth for about $200,000 per person.

The winner said his first call was to a family member to share his good news.

The next call? To Winz to cancel his benefit.

NZPA
source

XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES ANNOUNCES 'WORLD'S FIRST SPACE CRUISE' WEEK...

SPACE CRUISE PLANNED IN APRIL 2009... XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES is bringing a few famous astronauts aboard the yacht Sea Dream to select several passengers for a future sub-orbital spaceflight. Participants will experience weightlessness on a Zero-G flight from the Kennedy Space Center and G forces during space training.

A Florida company is bringing several U S Hall of Fame Astronauts on the luxury yacht Sea Dream to select future sub-orbital space participants during their 'Space Cruise' week event in April 2009. According to Mitchell J Schultz, it's Director, “ninety-six possible participants from around the globe are expected to register and become a part of space history.”

As the opportunity for commercial human spaceflight approaches, XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES will enable a number of their participants to be selected and take part in this newest advent of excitement and exploration for man......by becoming a passenger on a future sub-orbital spaceflight.

Schultz further elaborates “with chances no greater than one out of sixteen and with a week full of stimulating space related events, participants will thrill to the experience of a lifetime as they schmooze with others of similar interests and mingle with U S Hall of Fame Astronauts that are all part of the festivities.”

In addition, XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES will bring participants to Kennedy Space Center for a variety of special events including a chartered Zero-G flight, where each person will receive a personalized flight suit along with photos and a DVD of their experience. Participants will also receive a special two day space training program at NASTAR, near Philadelphia, where NASA has trained several Astronauts.

Ever since the dawn of early human spaceflight in the 1960's, mans desire to experience the awe of space, weightlessness and feel the power of  rockets and G  forces has excited many to wonder if and when will this opportunity be within reach. Now, it appears that the time is almost at hand with the successful flight of SpaceShipOne in October 2004 and entering the world into a  commercial sub-orbital space race.

With costs ranging from $98,000 to $250,000 for a seat, XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES has put together a program for $35,000 that Schultz claims “will allow all our participants an opportunity to not only taste the flavors of a space trip, with their space training and weightless flight experience, but will also send up to six lucky participants on a future sub-orbital spaceflight with an authorized FAA licensed carrier or provide for a payment of $150,000 to each of the six if there are no scheduled flights or departures by April 30, 2012.” 

Mitchell J Schultz is an experienced adventurer, world traveler and avid space enthusiast. Traveling for over 40 years, he has visited over 50 countries and has founded XTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES, LLC to market the making of 'Dreams to Reality' for the true space adventurer. Discriminating travelers with the inclination and the budget to take the space cruise will participate in the world's most exhilarating week of space related events and activities culminating with sending participants on a future sub-orbital spaceflight that will forever become one of their most memorable experiences.

For more information visit www.XtraOrdinaryAdventures.com

Spaceflights now for sale; scary part is price

Considering space travel on one of Virgin Galactic's new ships?

The sales pitch goes like this: The first hour will be relatively painless, a graceful ascent in a spaceship attached to a mother ship. Once the vessels reach 50,000 feet, the ship containing you, five more tourists and two pilots will detach and fall for a moment.

Then, the thrusters will propel it up for 90 seconds, traveling three times the speed of sound. All of the spacecraft's fuel will burn away, leaving its tanks empty.

The G-forces on your body will push your blood toward your feet. It is hoped that you won't black out, but if you do, you'll come to when you're at zero gravity.

Once above the undefined line that delineates Earth from space, your craft will arch to a height of 360,000 feet for about four minutes. You will be weightless and have stunning views of Earth's curvature, 1,000 miles in any direction.

And then gravity will beckon the vessel down to Earth, the human bodies within it feeling pressure six times their weight, sort of like a "big, hairy, fat cat sitting on your chest."

Total approximate time: two hours and nine minutes. All this for only $200,000 -- a lot of money to most folks, but a mere fraction of the millions spent by previous space tourists.

Bothell travel agent Angie Lepley is getting quite good at making the pitch: Earlier this year, she was chosen as one of 45 agents countrywide who are permitted to sell Virgin Galactic tours. She is the only agent in Washington, Idaho and Oregon who sells the trips.

"People do yachts and private villas and first-class airfare," Lepley said. "In the scheme of how people travel nowadays, I don't think (the price) is a lot."

Being chosen is a boon for Tangerine Travel, which Lepley founded in 1988. Her company, originally named ETI Travel, is one of 907 licensed travel agencies in Washington.

Last Thursday, Tangerine held a stylish client-appreciation event at a still-under-construction, 12,000-square-foot office in Bothell. Her business, with 57 employees, has outgrown its Kirkland location.

Guests were told that a Virgin Galactic representative would be on hand to answer questions. The representative turned out to be President Will Whitehorn. The Londoner said he was in town to visit Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who kick-started funding for Virgin Galactic's ship with 25 million British pounds, which converts to about $52 million at present exchange rates.



Space tourism is real

Ten years ago, space tourism was considered far-fetched and sensational. But as the noise from screaming headlines died away, the entrepreneurs determined to make it reality have been quietly perfecting their spaceports and crafts. Among them is Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, who operates Blue Origin, a secretive company with operations in Kent and in Culberson County, Texas.

Around the U.S., 16 commercial spaceports -- sort of like airports for spaceships -- are finished or planned. They will operate outside the bounds of both the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Space tourism could generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021, the FAA says. The largest share of that revenue will come from suborbital flights, such as the ones proposed by Virgin Galactic.

So far, Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures Ltd. is the only company that has put private citizens in space. It works with the Russian Space Agency, NASA and the International Space Station partners

"We are the only company that takes people up right now and will be, probably, I'd say, for the next four years," Chief Executive Eric Anderson said.

The most recent tourist was Charles Simonyi, who formerly led Microsoft Corp.'s Word and Excel teams. He reportedly paid about $25 million for the trip.

Other space tourism companies aren't competition for Space Adventures, Anderson said.

"I kind of consider them potential providers and partners in the future," he said. "We're not building rockets. We are an experience provider."

The FAA governs space tourism by licensing commercial rockets and issuing experimental launch permits. But it cannot guarantee that the programs being offered are safe -- people who sign up are giving informed consent, which means they are aware of the dangers, said FAA spokesman Hank Price.

Billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group, expects his company to be the next to put citizens in space. Up to five new tourists sign up per month, said Whitehorn, the Virgin Galactic president. Virgin already has sold nearly 200 seats, and holds $26 million in customer deposits. The first flight is planned for 2010.

News about Virgin's progress had been limited until an explosion at the Mojave Desert facility killed three technicians in July, which forced public scrutiny upon spacecraft construction.

'On the cutting edge'

Lepley, in Bothell, completed a training course at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where she learned how to sell space tours. She is marketing the trips to corporations and high-net-worth people, but no one has yet plunked down a deposit. Deposits start at $20,000.

But, she said, Seattle is full of adventuresome types and she expects a deposit in a few days. "They've done Italy, they've done the African safari, they've done Nepal," she said.

Her commission on each trip sold -- 3 percent -- is not as high as other travel sales, but her company gets name recognition, "and to be on the cutting edge and sell something for the adventurous soul," she said.

Huib van Leeuwen, 42, a Seattle engineer, is one such soul. He's already registered his interest online.

"It's something of a real fantasy, going into space," he said. His biggest concern is that the other people in the craft could ruin the experience.

He looked longingly at a model spacecraft at the Bothell party on Thursday. He hasn't yet made a deposit, he confessed, nor saved the money to go.

How long until it's his turn? "I'm talking to my wife about it."

WHICH TRIP IS THE BARGAIN?

SPACE ADVENTURES tourists pay about $25 million to spend two weeks at zero gravity, totaling 20,160 minutes.

Per-minute cost: $1,240

VIRGIN GALACTIC will charge $200,000 for its trip, which includes four minutes at zero gravity.

Per-minute cost: $50,000

INTO SPACE

Commercial human spaceflight milestones:

April 1, 2004: U.S. government issues the first launch license for a reusable launch vehicle to Scaled Composites. The company is building a spaceship for Virgin Galactic.

April 8, 2004: Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completes the first private- sector human commercial rocket launch.

June 17, 2004: U.S. government issues the first license for an inland spaceport to Mojave, Calif.

June 21, 2004: U.S. government awards Mike Melvill the first commercial astronaut wings for his successful flight of SpaceShipOne.

Oct. 4, 2004: An international competition awards $10 million, called the XPrize, to Scaled Composites for its successful flights of SpaceShipOne. Pilot Brian Binnie receives the FAA's second set of commercial astronaut wings.

Dec. 31, 2006: FAA issues requirements for crew and passengers involved in private space travel.

April 6, 2007: FAA completes guidelines for obtaining experimental launch permits.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Space cadets taken in by TV hoax

Three contestants have spoken of their disbelief after being fooled into thinking they went into space for the UK reality show Space Cadets.

The three believed they had blasted off from a cosmonaut training camp in Russia, but were in fact in a fake spaceship in a warehouse in Suffolk.

They cheered up when told they had each won £25,000 ($44,300).

But one contestant, teaching assistant Keri Hasset from Birmingham, said she was "heartbroken" by the prank.

Fake ceremony

"When I thought we were coming back to Earth I was planning my speech. I was going to say it had been my childhood dream. Now I'm a little bit heartbroken," she said.

Ms Hasset, plasterer Paul French, 26 from Bristol, and footballer/recruitment consultant Billy Jackson, 25, from Kent, had suspicions they were being tricked when they had to hold a ceremony for a celebrity Russian dog called Mr Bimby on the spaceship.

"This is a spacecraft but it feels like a caravan," Paul told his fellow astronauts.

"And if we were going to space and they were weighing us for our health, they wouldn't use scales like you get at home, would they?"

On discovering the show was a fake, Billy told Channel 4: "My mum and dad are gonna love this.

"This is the biggest wind-up ever. This is wicked."

"Aw man," said Paul. "We're not astronauts. We're just asses."

The show, presented by Johnny Vaughan, built a full-scale replica of a Russian space training camp in a disused hangar near Ipswich.

The ten original contestants had been whittled down to three over the course of two weeks, with the winners believing they were becoming Britain's first space tourists.

Channel 4 invested millions in the hoax but viewing figures slipped during the series.
Source

Private-spaceflight bill signed into law

WASHINGTON - President Bush gave suborbital space companies an early Christmas gift on Thursday by signing a bill that helps open the way for commercial tourism on the final frontier.

The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, or H.R. 5382, puts a clear legislative stamp on regulations already being formulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. More significantly, the law would eventually let paying passengers fly on suborbital launch vehicles at their own risk.

The age of commercial space travel got its start this summer with SpaceShipOne's first private-sector spaceflights. Since then, hundreds of would-be tourists, including William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame and "Alien" actress Sigourney Weaver, have voiced interest in taking their own suborbital space trips aboard the successors to SpaceShipOne, which may be ready for flight in 2007 or 2008.

The backers of H.R. 5382 said the legislation was needed to reassure potential investors, such as Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson, that they would not face crippling lawsuits in an inherently risky business.

Space policy consultant James Muncy, who has been following the legislation's up-and-down course closely, explained that the law would help the infant suborbital industry "get through the 21st-century equivalent of the barnstorming era."

Congressional staff members said Bush signed the bill on Thursday without fanfare. The FAA now has 12 months to draw up a new set of draft regulations that would provide for passenger flights. Final regulations would take effect six months later.

Safety concerns
H.R. 5382's trip through Congress to the White House was not a smooth one: The legislative language was the result of months of negotiations, and the bill didn't win final congressional passage until the final minutes of the session on Dec. 8.

The FAA's role in suborbital spaceflight safety was a key sticking point: Under the terms of the legislation, the FAA would regulate the industry over the next eight years primarily to protect the uninvolved public and the public interest. The agency would start regulating space vehicles to ensure crew and passenger safety only if the operation of those vehicles resulted in death, serious injury or a dangerous close call.

Beginning in 2012, the FAA could regulate suborbital spaceships however it saw fit.

The bill's backers said the eight-year period would give spaceship developers more freedom to experiment and also allow them to generate revenue by taking on passengers, as long as those passengers knew exactly what they were getting into.

That two-step regulatory regime rubbed some House Democrats the wrong way. During last month's floor debate, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said the legislation could encourage a "tombstone mentality," in which regulators would have to stand by until someone got killed or seriously hurt. Nevertheless, the bill was resurrected and approved by the House, 269-120, on the last full day of November's lame-duck session.

Final consideration in the Senate had to wait until an even later mini-session in December, which was required in order to approve an intelligence reform bill. The spaceflight bill went virtually unmentioned on the Senate floor, but the behind-the-scenes debate continued up to almost the last minute.

Firm opposition from even one senator could have stymied the bill, and if the Senate had not acted before ending its session, the legislation's backers would have had to start from scratch next year — potentially delaying the industry's development.

In the end, the legislation was tacked onto a package of House bills that were approved by unanimous consent in the Senate.

'Great victory'
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said in a press statement that the legislation's passage was a "great victory for the future of America's space efforts."

“The people who will invest the type of big dollars necessary to make this a major new step in mankind’s ascent into space have been waiting for the government to lay down the regulatory regime and set the rules of the game, and this is the first major step toward doing that,” he said.

MSNBC special report
The new space race


Approval in the Senate came as a surprise even to some of the bill's biggest backers. When informed that the legislation had actually passed, Muncy responded with a mild expletive of wonderment.

"Never watch sausage or legislation being made," he told MSNBC.com. "It's been a long, tortuous road."

After collecting his thoughts, Muncy paid tribute to officials at the FAA and the Department of Transportation, as well as members of Congress and their aides.

"Congress is clearly saying that it doesn't want to be a barrier," he said. "It wants to open doors and fly the American public into space."
© 2007 MSNBC Interactive