Air miles buy man space trip

A Virgin Atlantic passenger has collected enough air miles to buy him a trip into space.

Alan Watts, the chief of engineering firm London Guild Electrical, racked up two million points by flying Upper Class to his holiday home in Florida more than 50 times, and by using his Virgin credit card.

However, he was somewhat surprised when he heard his points would get him a trip to space on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship when it launches in 2009.

"When we first contacted Alan to let him know he had qualified for this unique offer I think he thought it was a prank call," Branson said.

Alan will have three days of preparation and then he will enter a ship attached to a carrier aircraft. This will take him to 50,000 feet, after which the spaceship will climb vertically and accelerate to four times the speed of sound in less than 30 seconds.

He will then be travelling at more than 3,000 miles per hour, 75 miles above the earth and the rocket motor will shut down. Alan and the other space tourists will be able to experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the earth.

"It's going to offer the best view in the world and I can't wait to make history," he said. "The nearest I've come to space before was going on the Space Mountain ride in Florida."

At first, tickets for Virgin Galactic flights will cost $200,000 but Branson expects the cost to come down quickly. He is also planning lotteries to allow ordinary members of the public to experience space travel.

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