Kottayam publisher all set for space odyssey

Rs 1 crore for a three-hour journey! But then, Passenger 38 has booked himself for an out-of-the-world experience. Quite literally.

Rs 1 crore for a three-hour journey! But then, Passenger 38 has booked himself for an out-of-the-world experience. Quite literally.

Santhosh George Kulangara, who runs Labour India Publications based in Kottayam district, is all set to become the first Indian space tourist. Santhosh will fly on board Virgin Galactic’s spaceship, a venture of Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic.

“It’s a dream come true. I’ve been following this up since 2004,” Santhosh said. “I have travelled to 50 countries. When Virgin invited those interested to fly on SpaceShipTwo, I couldn’t resist it. They’re also allowing me to film the entire gamut of preparations and flight sequences,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

Santhosh’s three-hour journey will begin once the spaceship completes mandatory checks at Rutan’s base in Mojave, California.

The Virgin Galactic has

already test-flown its SpaceShipOne, marking their

arrival in relatively space tourism.

Santhosh and his co-passengers will be first taken to a height of 50,000 ft in the spacecraft attached to a specially designed jet carrier. Scramjet technology will then carry them into space at thrice the speed of sound.

“It’s a thrilling wait. There will be three days of pre-flight preparations to equip us with the basic knowledge necessary for the journey. On completion of the voyage, they’ll gift me an astronaut’s wings,” he said.