Prince Harry to be The First Royal in Space?

Army Pilot Prince Harry, 26, is "obsessed with space," say his friends.

According to thesun.com, he has already asked Sir Richard Branson's son Sam for a seat on one of the first Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flights and also hopes to be an honorary member of the elite U.S. space programme after returning from Afghanistan next year.

A minimum of 1,000 hours of advanced jet engine flight time needs to be attaineded by Harry for NASA to consider him. The prince has already done exceptionally well in his fixed wing and Apache assault helicopter courses.

"Harry has already completed his studies of Land and Sea Surveillance and Oceanology - part of Astro training - and can't wait to get into one of NASA's T38 training jets. It's his dream to be the first Royal in space," the report quoted a royal source.

"His service with the Army Air Corps has been exemplary, which puts him in good stead. There's no chance of him walking on the Moon, but he wants to train with NASA - and is determined to get on a Virgin Galactic flight."

What is included in the NASA's T38 training?

The training scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas, would include Scuba Microgravity, which is performing tasks underwater in space suits. The activity lasts for up to four hours at a time. Other activities are: Extreme G-Force in a giant gyroscope, and spend hours in a pressurised chamber, simulating space problems such as muscle wastage.

It was earlier revealed by Clarance House that Harry will return to Afghanistan as a frontline Apache pilot as early as April next year.