Want A Ride Into Space?

Anybody got an extra quarter million dollars they can spare? I’d like to use it to sign up for a trip into space aboard Richard Branson Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two. Branson says trips into space will begin next year.

We've spoken about this before, and I thought this was something out of the Jetsons. I thought we were decades away from this really happening, but they say they've been testing it and everything is on schedule.

They already have a waiting list of 640 passengers. Each of them have put down $250,000 for the privilege of flying in space. Some people have even taken out second mortgages to come up with the money.

So what do you get? First you get three days of training in New Mexico. They say a lot of it is psychological training. It’s something you’ve never experienced before and probably never will again. They want you to be prepared for it.

Then you’ll join five other passengers for a two-and-a-half-hour trip into space. You’ll get out of your seat to experience weightlessness and experience views of the Earth that pictures just can’t capture. You’ll celebrate with champagne when you return.

I always thought in my next life I’d like to be an astronaut. But with the U.S. space program on hold, the prospects for a job probably aren't very good. So if I was offered a seat on one of these new passenger spaceships, I wouldn't even have to think about it.

The answer is yes, yes, yes.

I’m not really expecting an offer, so again, anybody got an extra $250,000 laying around?