Justin Bieber Space Flight Booked With Virgin Galactic On SpaceShip Two
Beliebers everywhere are about to become one more lonely girl. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson announced on Wednesday that the Biebs has already booked a ticket for one of Virgin Galactic’s commercial flights into outer space.
According to the Guardian, the Canadian pop star enrolled in the space program along with his manager Scooter Braun. "'Great to hear @justinbieber & @scooterbraun are latest @virgingalactic future astronauts. Congrats, see you up there!" Branson tweeted. Bieber retweeted the message and replied, “let's shoot a music video in SPACE!! #nextLEVEL.”
It’s not the first time that the “Baby” singer has expressed a desire to explore the final frontier. In 2012, Bieber told the British television show “Daybreak” that if he hadn’t become a musician he would have loved to be an astronaut. "I would probably be an astronaut because I want to go to space,” Bieber said, before adding that the cost on one of Branson’s flights might be prohibitive. "I don't know if I want to spend that much money.”
Bieber’s decision to join the program puts him in the ranks of an elite group of celebrities, including Ashton Kutcher, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Former ‘N Sync member Lance Bass also attempted to travel into space as a tourist, back in 2002. Back then, Bass’ best option was to get a reserved seat on a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, for which he had to undergo training at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Unfortunately for Bass, his funding -- a coveted spot on the spaceship required $20 million -- fell through shortly after he finished his training. Bass would have been only the third space tourist ever.
Nearly a decade later, Virgin Galactic finally appears to be getting close to launching its first ever commercial space flight. Galactic’s SpaceShip Two, which holds six passengers and two pilots, made headlines again on April 29 when it completed its first rocket-powered test flight over California’s Mojave Air and Spaceport. The spaceship reached supersonic speeds and reached a maximum altitude of 56,000 feet before it circled back to the ground, Space.com reported.
“It is really a stupendous day,” Branson said of the test flight. “So, big grins all over out faces after many years of hard work.”
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