Richard Branson, the creator of Virgin Galactic, traveled to space on the Unity 22 mission, which was successfully launched and returned. Virgin Galactic announced its intention to raffle off two tickets on their spacecraft in July. More than 100,000 people, according to Virgin Galactic, contributed to the sweepstakes, which raised $1.7 million in eight weeks after it started in July. The Citizen Astronaut Program of Space for Humanity will receive the funds raised.
The contest was organized in collaboration with the funding platform Omaze and space for humanity is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring a more inclusive future for the space. After Branson and five other group participants completed the agency’s first fully crewed flight test in July, the sweepstakes started. The competition acquired donations from 164,338 people from all the world over for eight weeks.
This contest was a means for Virgin Galactic to generate buzz for their space tourism initiatives, as we pointed out when the firm initially announced it. It was also somewhat of a turning point for private spaceflight. At a time when government-funded institutions were the only ones sending astronauts into space, the thought of winning space travel seemed unthinkable.
Announced in July, the sweepstakes noticed the company provides normal humans a chance to earn tickets to the edge of space On Wednesday, Virgin Galactic introduced its first sweepstakes winner that the space tourism agency is sending to space. The winner, Keisha S. (her last name is being withheld by the organization), is a fitness coach from Antigua and Barbuda. She is the first person to visit space from the Caribbean islands and wants to take her daughter, who is studying astrophysics, to the spaceship as a guest.
Guess Who Got Surprised?
Keisha is 44 years old woman, her birthplace is Antigua and she was also raised in Antigua. She is a fitness and life coach and former flight attendant. Keisha stated she has dreamt of going to space since she became a little girl and is hoping to cross the very last frontier along with her 17-yr-old, a science student living in Britain whose goal of sooner or later work for NASA.
She told AFP that she simply thought she was doing an interview but after seeing Richard Branson walking in, she got surprised & started screaming as she couldn’t believe it.
As per her statement, she was actually interested in space when she was little. So this is a great opportunity for her to feel alive and experience the greatest adventure of all time.
Shahaf won the prize after raising $170 million after participating in a raffle hosted by Virgin Galactic on the Omaze platform.
The money will be donated to space for Humanity, a non-governmental organization that aims to expand access to space.
The amount he gave was not published, but the entry began with a minimum contribution of 1 to 10.
First Sweepstakes Winner: Keisha Shahaf
Schaff is a health and energy coach who works with women, decided to take a chance, especially after seeing the announcement of the Virgin Atlantic flight, and just filled out the application form. She didn’t think that she will really have the answer, she also want to be an inspiring personality for others to live out their dreams.
The record drew about 165,000 members in 8 weeks, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.
On May 11, Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, Matt Pohlson, CEO and co-founder of Omaze, and Rachel Lyons, executive director of space For Humanity, announced at her home in Antigua that Keisha had won the competition and fulfilled her dream of visiting space.
Lyons said Meeting Keisha and sharing this news with her was an experience that he will cherish for the rest of his life. He added more that her passion for visiting human space and her transformative capacity is a wonderful testament to His mission at Space For Humanity. They are very excited to support her training as she prepares for this adventure as they know that Keisha is now part of their community.
Citizen Astronaut Program
The perspective and experience astronauts have received by viewing Earth from space have formed a society in extremely good ways. Space for Humanity’s work leverages the transformational energy of the overview effect to enact tremendous change back in the world. The Citizen Astronaut Program is designed to optimize citizen astronauts physically and psychologically to experience the impact of overview, likely getting them ready to navigate cognitive changes and implement the knowledge acquired in their leadership roles and their personal lives on Earth.
Graduates may be welcomed into the space for the Humanity Overview Cohort community for continuous support, responsibility, and inspiration.
Even as the sweepstakes were free to enter, you can additionally donate to space for Humanity, a charity committed to creating spaceflight more handy, to earn extra entries. Virgin Galactic estimates that it has raised about $ 170 million in its bid for the company’s Citizen Astronaut program.
As the organization said when the sweepstakes were announced, this is how Virgin Galactic got the enthusiasm for their space tourism efforts. At the same time, it was like a time for non-public spaceflight. The concept of winning a ticket to space was not something a person could dream of when a government-funded company was the only one flying into space.
Sweepstakes in Partnership with Omaze and Space for Humanity
In order to ensure a more equitable future in space, Space for Humanity and the fundraising site Omaze collaborated to create the competition.
The contest started in July, following the conclusion of the first fully crewed flight test by Branson and five other team members. For eight weeks, 164,338 individuals from all around the world donated to the tournament.
They “couldn’t be more happy” for Keisha, according to Omaze CEO and co-founder Matt Pohlson, who surprised her with the good news together with Branson and Space For Humanity executive director Rachel Lyons.
Omaze was founded, according to Pohlson, to improve the status of the world, according to a news release published by People Magazine.
Sources:
Theverge.com Space.com Phys.org sciencetimes.com engadget.com
