Civilian Space
Travel Winner Gets Second Shot at Space
(7 February 2007) Benson Space Company
announced today it would provide a tax-free ride to space enthusiast Brian
Emmett, making him the first "test passenger" and fulfilling his lifelong
desire to go to space.
Emmett, 31, a Washington D.C. native,
will serve as a consultant and subsequently be one of the first civilians to
travel to space when Benson Space Company begins suborbital passenger flights
in late 2008. As a working member of the BSC flight test team, Emmett would no
longer be subject to the taxes that kept him from taking the space flight he
had won in an earlier contest.
Chairman and President Jim Benson
announced, "This is what the Benson Space Company is all about, making peoples'
dream of going to space come true. When I heard about Brian Emmett's dashed
dreams of going to space, my first thought was 'Fellow space cadet in distress!
Benson Space to the rescue.' I knew that we were the only ones capable of
rekindling Brian's vision, and I am pleased we found a way for Brian to come on
board as a test passenger and creative consultant."
Emmett beamed, "I'm
absolutely ecstatic about Mr. Benson's gracious offer. I forfeited Oracle's
prize last year when I realised that my childhood dream would come at too high
a cost for my family. It's hard to put into words how tough that decision was,
and it's even harder to express my excitement about Mr. Benson creating a
second chance for me. Lightning can strike twice."
Because of the tax
problem all space travel contest winners experience, Benson Space Company will
announce in a few weeks its own contest to award multiple tax-paid trips to
space.
About Benson Space Company
Established in September 2006,
Benson Space Company (BSC) seeks to provide the first, safest and lowest cost
astronaut-making spaceflights for the emerging personal spaceflight market. BSC
is led by Jim Benson, founder and former chairman/CEO/CTO of SpaceDev, which
developed the world's only hybrid rocket motors used for human spaceflight.
Under Benson's guidance for nearly a decade, SpaceDev designed and produced an
innovative satellite for NASA and the hybrid rocket motor technology for Paul
Allen's SpaceShipOne, the vehicle that won the US$ 10 million Ansari X Prize in
2004. BSC is currently working with SpaceDev in developing Dream Chaser
spaceships, based on a proven and NASA-tested design, which will allow BSC to
offer the world's first, commercial, suborbital spaceflights.
(source:
Benson Space Company)
