He'll Be Among The First Suborbital Space Tourists
Volvo Cars of North America along with billionaire entrepreneur
Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies
today unveiled that a 41-year-old Denver man is the winner of a
trip on a sub-orbital flight to space on Sir Richard's Virgin
Galactic. Doug Ramsburg of Northglenn, CO, is expected to be among
the first people to travel on a commercial flight to space. He was
among the more than 135,000 aspiring astronauts who registered to
win a trip to space as part of a promotional effort by Volvo to
introduce its new XC90 SUV.
On February 6, during its first-ever Super Bowl advertisement,
Volvo unveiled the Volvo XC90 V8 by comparing its power to a rocket
blasting into space. Near the commercial's end, the ship's pilot
revealed himself as Sir Richard, whose Virgin Galactic -- one of
the world's first commercial space tourism operators -- plans to
debut commercial space flight within the next two to three
years.
The end of the ad revealed Volvo was giving away a chance to win
a seat on one of Virgin's forthcoming commercial passenger-carrying
spaceflights.
Volvo and Sir Richard introduced Ramsburg as the winner Friday
during a news conference at the New York International Auto Show.
His trip is valued at $200,000.
Now, Ramsburg will wait the two to three years for Virgin
Galactic to commence operating commercial flights subject to the
necessary safety and regulatory approvals. He will receive
astronaut training and fly on one of Virgin's initial voyages.
During the flight, he will experience weightlessness, view the
stars above and see planet Earth below.
"Flying in space is a dream it seems that everyone has from a
very young age onward," Ramsburg said. "Growing up in Denver,
surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, I would think, 'what's beyond
these mountains?' Then, as I got older and would fly on airplanes,
I would think, 'what's beyond this sky?' I never thought I'd
actually get to find out. Now I will."
Ramsburg, a program assistant in the admissions office at the
University of Colorado-Denver and native of Northglenn, learned
about Volvo's Boldlygo Sweepstakes through media coverage in the
days leading up to the Super Bowl. "It immediately caught my
attention -- who wouldn't want to have that experience as a legacy?
As soon as the ad ran during the game, I went to my computer and
registered," Ramsburg said.