Destination: Outer space

This could almost sound ridiculous to many, a figment of a fertile imagination, or perhaps that of a komiks writer. But, as has been proven over time, komiks imaginings, both Filipino and foreign, have substantiated their abilities for reading the future, often better than scientists.

We are speaking now of the much vaunted trip to outer space as part of the promotions of Unilever’s new Axe Apollo fragrance. Crazy? Perhaps, but give them the credit of dreaming up the gimmick in partnership with space travel agency Space Expedition Corporation, and the spaceflight developer XCOR Aerospace. 

Sometime in 2014, which is actually not too far from now, 22 winners in a search dubbed Axe Apollo Space Academy (AASA) will board an American sub-orbited space plane Lynx developed by XCOR Aerospace. While they will not do a moon walk, they will experience floating around in zero gravity. Winners will fly one by one, 103 kilometers up in space, in the Lynx that will seat only the pilot and the passenger. The experience of weightlessness will last from five to six minutes before the Lynx descends back to Earth.

The competition has welcomed untrained civilians, both men and women, 18 years and above all over the globe. However, we imagine that it would help for the candidates to be gutsy, possibly experienced in bungee jumping, rock and mountain climbing, free falling and the like. In the Philippines, the top two representatives will join the final selection in the Global Space Camp in Orlando, Florida. All candidates will undergo mental and physical tests to see who is most fitted for this unique outer space exploration.

Among the questions asked of the organizers was why their male personal care fragrance Axe chose this project over many others. Axe Philippines brand manager Gem Laforteza had his answer ready. “We offer two tips to getting girls to notice you: Smell awesome all the time, and be a freaking astronaut.” What is certain, however, is that they are spending a lot to get their product noticed. Why else would they hire Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon in NASA’s 1969 Apollo 11 as brand spokesperson?

Our interest now totally engaged, we go to other sites and discovered Joe Kittinger, military pilot who is registered to have made the longest free fall in history. The date was Aug. 16, 1960, long before the Walk on the Moon, possibly even before Yuri Gagarin’s trip to outer space. At kilometer 30, Kittinger on a giant helium balloon jumped, feeling no wind, nor resistance at 1,000 km./hour until he felt the air rushing, which is when he pulled at his parachute. Kittinger recorded his free fall for the interest of scientists and the study of the outer space.

On April 12, 1961, Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first person in history to reach outer space. Neil Armstrong is credited to have been the first man to walk on the moon, with Buzz Aldrin on July 21, 1969 some minutes slightly after him. Twenty years later, NASA launched the first space shuttle mission that would carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit for the next three decades.

What a long time this seems now that human travel in space has become a matter of booking a spaceflight through a travel agency, and where the rich reserve space on the Lynx way in advance at the travel agency SXC. We take a look at the ticket availabilities that range from $95,000 to $100,000. The cheaper tickets bring you to a lower altitude of 61 km. high, have fewer freebies and leave soonest this 2013. Ticket reservations for the $100,000 start in 2014, which includes a three-night hotel booking, raffles, events, etc. and brings you to an altitude of 100 km.

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