Justin Bieber signs up for Space Voyage on Virgin Galactic
Teen pop star Justin Bieber has become the latest
celebrity to reach for the stars, by signing up to go
into space with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.
British entrepreneur Branson announced on Twitter on Wednesday
that Bieber, 19, and his manager, Scooter Braun, were the latest "future
astronauts." Bieber tweeted in response, "let's shoot a music video in SPACE!!"
Virgin Galactic commercial space flights, which are slated to
begin next year, have reportedly already drawn high profile passengers
including physicist Stephen Hawking as well as actors Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie.
At a charity auction during the Cannes film festival last
month, one guest paid $1.2 million to purchase a seat next to actor Leonardo
DiCaprio on Virgin Galactic.
Last year, "Two and a Half Men" actor Ashton Kutcher
became the 500th person to sign up.
A seat on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger,
two-pilot spaceship, costs $250,000 and will take passengers to an altitude of
about 68 miles, giving them a few minutes to experience zero gravity and
glimpse Earth from space.
The SpaceShipTwo rocket is currently undergoing vigorous tests
in preparation of its first space trip with Branson and his family, scheduled
for the end of this year.
Virgin Galactic is a division of Branson's Virgin Group.
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