Some of you know that my wife Lina is a founding member , and future astronaut with Virgin Galactic.

I've had several PM's etc asking 'whats up' with that...when does she fly....WTF!!

So I thought I'd start a wee thread for those of you interested , and bring you up to date on whats going on.


This all started for Lina and I after the highly successful 'X-Prize' space flights
accomplished by Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites , based in the Mojave Desert
back in 2004.

http://space.xprize.org/ansari-x-prize


I had followed the exploits of Burt Rutan and his brother Dick through many adventures over the years, including the record breaking non-stop flight around the world, and have been a longtime fan of Richard Bransons exploits on land and sea, and of course in the air!
The winning of the X-Prize , and the subsequent involvement of Sir Richard Branson and
the Virgin Galactic team suddenly made the lifelong dream Lina has had of going into space
a reality..both financially (OUCH...I'll explain later!) , logistically and safety wise!


So , without telling Lina , I wrote an e-mail to Richard , expressing interest and telling him a bit about Lina and her dream.

A month or so later we got a phone call from the UK at 3:00 AM in the morning asking
if we could meet with a Virgin Galactic team member in Los Angeles in a couple of days!

Of course we could...and so we did!


The "plan" that Virgin Galactic presented was very much in its infancy , and very fluid.
Commercial space flight was they admitted, a whole new ball game , and a learning process for all ...including them!


About 3 hours later ,after lots of questions from both sides , we were hooked!

So , we wrote out a check for $200,000 and Lina became one of the earliest founder members of Virgin Galactic ...
... one of the first women to sign up...
...and potentially a passenger on the first ever commercial space flight.

( OK..the $200,000 dollar question....no we are not rich !
Despite many years of diligent practice (!) , and eventually two sessions of IVF , we have come to terms with the fact that we wont have kids. This obviously leaves us without the burden of College or University tuition etc..or the ongoing cost of raising a brood !
So without those 'constraints' , in order to make this happen we took out an equity loan on our house , equity that would of otherwise been needed
for a family.
Bottom line...I was lucky enough to live one of my dreams , by sailing around the world...
...it was time for Lina to live one of hers.)


I wont bore you with details from 2004 to now...suffice to say , Virgin Galactic have been AMAZING both in terms of their commitment to make this Dream a reality , and the way they have kept us informed and INVOLVED every step of the way.

The "Spaceport" is well under way in New Mexico , and initial air drop testing of the Space Ship will commence at the Mojave site very soon.
Richard and Burt Rutan continue to place a HUGE emphasis on both safety and low environmental impact.

Go here for all the info,history and pics!

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

(Lina is at 5.06 on the video!)


I write this now because I'm still REALLY exited....

Lina and I just came back yesterday from the Mojave desert where we attended the unveiling of VSS ENTERPRISE ..
.... the first truly commercial , private Space Ship in the world!!

No dates are set in stone yet , as both the FAA and Virgin have much testing and negotiations to do!

But I reckon somewhere in mid or late 2011...

...I get to sleep with a real life "Space cadet"


jo