Four Turks to fly to space soon

Burak Coşan ISTANBUL

Ceylan Pirinçcioğlu, the chairman of SCX’s representative in Turkey, VIP Tourism, said three Turks would fly to space four one hour at the end of 2015. AA Photo

An expedition to space is not a dream anymore four lucky Turks, shortlisted for the “pure space experience” trip organized by the SCX company.

Ceylan Pirinçcioğlu, the chairman of SCX’s representative in Turkey, VIP Tourism, said three Turks would fly to space four one hour at the end of 2015, and one would take the trip in 2016. A total of 1,000 people had applied for the adventure from 57 different countries.

For around $100,000, perspective spacemen and women can buy a ticket to space and “stare into space” for about an hour.

“In the flight that will take place at the end of 2015, the X-Cor Lynx Space Rocket will reach a speed of 3,564 kilometers per hour within four minutes after takeoff. The engines will shut down after the 58th kilometer and the rocket will climb to a height of 100 kilometers with the thrust power,” said Pirinçcioğlu.

“The return to earth will commence after spending seven minutes in a gravity-free environment,” he added, saying adrenalin would hit maximum levels on the way back.

A special space port built on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea will be used for the rocket’s takeoff and landing, the VIP Tourism chairman said.

Pirinçoğlu said applicants for the space trip included world renowned names such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Stephen Hawking, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.

This may be the last possibility for Turks to travel to space in the near future, as the dream of living on the Red Planet came to naught for Turkish people on Feb. 17.

“Mars One,” a project that aims to put a permanent human settlement on Mars, chose 100 people in a third round of voting from an initial 202,586 applicants, but none of the 11 Turks who had originally applied for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet succeeded in making the cut.