A new NBC reality TV show called "Space Race" is said to give its winner a chance to travel into space, Huffington Post reported Saturday.
The reality TV show will feature space fans vying for the ticket to a free ride on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, which will send them off to space.
"Virgin Galactic's mission is to democratize space, eventually making commercial space travel affordable and accessible to all," Virgin Galactic Founder and British Billionaire Sir Richard Branson said. "'Space Race' allows us to extend this opportunity of a lifetime to as many people as possible right at the start of our commercial service - through direct experience and television viewing."
"All of us at Virgin Galactic and our partner Aabar Investments are delighted to be collaborating with NBC and Mark, who is a true pioneer and creative force in television programming," Branson added.
NBC has already announced that Veteran reality TV show producer Mark Burnett of One Three Media will be "Space Runner's" executive producer.
Burnett is famous for his long-lasting competition shows: "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."
SpaceShipTwo is a private spaceship, which is manned by two pilots and can accommodate up to six passengers. The mothership carrier plane of SpaceShipTwo is WhiteKnightTwo, which will carry the suborbital ship to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) prior to releasing it into space.
Virgin Galactic is expected to launch the ship in 2014, with tickets at about $250,000, but for the winner of "Space Race," he or she will not be paying even just a single dime.
According to Virgin Galactic officials, spaceflyers will have the opportunity to look down on Earth from the suborbital spaceship.
"For the past 10 years I have relentlessly pursued my dream of using a TV show to give an everyday person the chance to experience the black sky of space and look down upon mother Earth," Burnett said. "Last year I spent time in New Mexico at the state of the art facility [Spaceport America] and last week spent time in the Mojave Desert with Sir Richard and his impressive team."
In September, SpaceShipTwo, which was built by Scaled Composites, reportedly reached a maximum altitude of 65,000 feet (19,800 m) in its second test flight.
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