It is hoped that by early 2018, Sir Richard Branson and his family will have travelled to space. I imagine the TV pictures will be a lot clearer than they were when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon in 1969. However, it was these grainy pictures that inspired Julian Ranger to become an astronaut. “If you’re not inspired by that, it’s hard to be inspired by anything” he said. His excitement about his future space adventure was clearly evident as he went on to say “It was my happiest day in 2004 when Sir Richard Branson announced he would take tourists to space. I signed up straight away, once I had permission from my wife and family! Space is an infinite playground and we need to work out how to get there”. From what I heard, they’re making serious strides towards doing just that and turning what was once deemed an impossible dream, into a reality. But once that first, long awaited space flight has finally been recorded, who will be next in line to don their spacesuit and experience zero gravity? There are currently 700 future astronauts registered with Virgin Galactic. Each of these intrepid adventurers believed in the project from the beginning and paid a significant sum of money to secure their place in what’s described as ‘the most exciting club on earth’. But anyone who dares to dream can apply. When asked about the joining process, Rose talked about their on-line application system which asks a series of questions designed to identify potential future astronauts. It’s Rose’s job to read the applications every day; a job she still gets
a huge amount of satisfaction from. “It makes me so excited to read them” she said. Before you apply however, you’d be well advised to check your bank balance. When asked how much it costs to travel into space, Rose answered “It’s currently $250,000, but in the future and as we develop more, it should drive the price down”. That’s a big fare for a two and a half hour flight. Perhaps I won’t fill in the form just yet! But my interest in space travel has certainly rocketed (pun intended) and I no longer see it as just a futuristic fantasy. Being able to talk to people directly involved in the planning of commercial space flights was hugely stimulating and, if nothing else, allowed me to visualize space as more than just a scene from a certain Steven Spielberg movie. The students at the New English School seemed to agree with me. Under the supervision of science teacher Mr. Greenfield, one question lead to another, which lead to another. Rose and Julian were exceptionally generous with their time and I for one was sorry when the session came to an end. But not before Julian had talked about Astrobotic. He explained that whilst Virgin Galactic aim to take people to space, Astrobotic hope to arrange the first commercial lunar landing. It is their desire to challenge humanity and make regular flights to the Moon. Surely not in my lifetime… To find out more, visit virgingalactic.com or astrobotic. net
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