The Space Race is On

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Inc. cover lad Richard Branson was in Manhattan this morning looking strikingly similar to an MTV Video Award as he announced the winner of a trip to space on Virgin Galactic. The contest, sponsored by Volvo and presented at the New York Auto Show, will send winner Doug Ramsburg on a sub-orbital flight - quite soon if Branson has his druthers. A week ago, I might have thought that lassoing the moon was the stuff of big talk and Battlestar Galactica, but after seeing Burt Rutan at the Inc. 500 conference, I'll be surprised if it takes long. Rutan's rousing speech in Tucson made it seem like affordable commercial trips to infinity and beyond will happen in his lifetime. And the accompanying video shot from inside the cockpit of SpaceShipOne that Rutan narrated had the rapt audience making out-of-this-world travel plans.

For Rutan's vision of red-eyes to the Red Dwarfs to become reality it will take dedication, creativity, critical thinking, rigorous safety testing, and a galaxy of funding. Like, say, some $20 million over the next 15 years for a space airline...bearing the name Virgin Galactic. Did I mention that Branson is one of Rutan's partners? And that he was in the Mojave to see the initial launch of SpaceShipOne? Yes, all of the planets are aligned here at Inc.

"Burt Rutan came to us because we have the chance to make space travel a global reality," says Branson trying not to choke in his spaceman helmet. "He's the most brilliant engineer on Earth and we both have very big dreams. We balance each other well."

It's going to take more than learning weightless balance for his space-bound protege though. Doug Ramsburg will spend the next two to three years training for his mission, a trip valued at $200,000.
By trade, Ramsburg, 41, is a credentials evaluator at the University of Colorado-Denver, but from here on out he'll be known as Astronaut Doug. (Even if, as we learned at the conference, Rutan thinks NASA "astronauts" who haven't been to space are as official as a Buzz Lightyear doll). Astronaut Doug says he's been enraptured by space travel since a trip to Cape Canaveral, watching all of the lunar landings and following the Space Shuttle launches. "I was stunned, it's unbelievable" says Ramsburg, "it's awesome that Branson is bringing this technology to the masses."

And just wait until Branson and Rutan see their drawings of hotels on the moon come to fruition. (Quick Virgin Galactic slogan idea, if I may, Sir Richard: "To the moon, Alice, To the moon.") For now, though, one lucky self-described "space nut" is on his sub-orbital way. Oh, and those of you who are offering to step in if Astronaut Doug gets cold moon boots, forget it. "My partner has been very supportive about the idea," says Ramsburg, "but if I don't do it, he said he will."