CONTEST HEADING INTO ORBIT GRAND PRIZE: A VACATION TRIP OUT OF THIS WORLD! LITERALLY!Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - The craft hasn't been built yet, but already Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 in Shamley Green, Surrey, England), is a British entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 is looking to give away a seat on his Mojave-built spaceship. A Super Bowl ad will kick off a contest by Volvo and Branson, Fox's ``The Rebel Billionaire'' star, for a seat on the spaceship that is to be be ready for suborbital suborbital /sub·or·bi·tal/ (sub-or´bi-t'l) infraorbital. sub·or·bit·al adj. Situated on or below the floor of the orbit of the eye. n. flights in 2007. Founder of Virgin Atlantic airline and Virgin Records, Branson has created a new venture, dubbed Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is a company within Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which plans to offer sub-orbital spaceflights and later orbital spaceflights to the paying public. Mission , that has a technology licensing agreement with Mojave Aerospace Ventures Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV) is a company founded by Paul Allen and Burt Rutan to handle the commercial spinoffs from the Tier One project. It owns the intellectual property arising from Tier One, and it is in turn owned by Paul Allen (the majority shareholder) and Burt for a fleet of spaceships. Mojave Aerospace Ventures, formed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (born January 21, 1953 in Seattle, Washington) is an American entrepreneur. With Bill Gates, he formed Microsoft. and SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, made history last year with the first privately developed manned spaceflights. ``The best way to illustrate Virgin Galactic's mission for the safe, affordable exploration of space is to give one person a chance to win, rather than pay for, a seat on our spacecraft,'' Branson said in an announcement last week. Volvo's Super Bowl ad, promoting its new XC90 SUV, stars a space- suited Branson. After the commercial airs, aspiring astronauts will be able to log onto www.boldlygo.com through Feb. 22 to enter into the contest. The winner will be announced March 24 at the New York International Auto Show The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show held in late March or early April. It is usually held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Sunday after Easter. . The value of a seat on the sub-orbital flight - which also includes three days of pre-flight training - is $200,000. For now, the Web site does not mention the space contest. Instead, it promotes the new SUV by stating that it is ``powerful enough to take you someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. you've never been before'' and proclaims that ``the sky is not the limit.'' Branson's agreement with Mojave Aerospace Ventures is potentially worth more than $100 million over the next 15 years. Among the first passengers of the planned new space service are Branson and Rutan. Last year, 7UP also announced plans to hold a contest for a sub-orbital flight. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in AV edition only) Billionaire Sir Richard Branson appears in Volvo's first-ever Super Bowl ad, promoting a contest in which the grand prize is a suborbital voyage. Volvo Cars of North America |
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