Town's first astronaut
BUSINESSMAN Craig Burkinshaw has lodged a £200,000 bid to become Doncaster's first astronaut.
Craig, born and raised in Sprotbrough, has signed up to become one of the world's first space tourists after making a reservation to go on one of the first flights on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo.
Craig, aged 37, is managing director of tour operator Audley Travel.
He says he has travelled extensively throughout the world and now wants to go a step further.
The former Ridgewood School and Richmond Hill Primary School pupil grew up in Doncaster and his parents still live at the family home on Tennyson Avenue, although he is currently living in Oxford.
He is expected to go into space within the next three years after paying 200,000 for his seat.
His mum Mary said today: "He's said it will be the next two and a half to three years that it happens.
"I think it's crazy, but Craig likes a challenge! He loves scuba diving and he's done things like bungee jumping.
"It was a bit of a shock when he told us he was going into space, but I know what he's like so it wasn't that much of a surprise.
"Obviously it's a bit worrying as his mother, but if he wants to do it then he's got to do it, and he's really excited about it.
"He used to have a telescope when he was a boy, so he's always had an interest in space and astronomy."
Due to start operating before 2010, SpaceShipTwo will go up to 360,000ft, or 68 miles above sea level, in just 90 seconds. Craig has already had some zero gravity training.
Passengers will have views of 1,000 miles in every direction and be able to look down on the earth.
They will also be able to experience weightlessness for about five minutes during the two-and-a-half hour trip.
Only around 450 people have been into space since Soviet fighter pilot Yuri Gagarin become the first man to do it in 1961.
But the spacecraft that will take Craig into space will be a far cry from the capsule that made Gagarin the first cosmonaut.
Each flight will carry six passengers and two pilots in an aeroplane-style environment.
The launch site is likely to be Mojave in California, USA.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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