Space exploration, or even living, has been an incredibly interesting topic for many of us for decades, especially with the increased technology and intelligence that seems to come along with this idea continually. We’ve been hearing more and more about it now with Elon Musk and SpaceX, and many scientists and researchers of all kinds are working hard on space travel and the different possibilities out there. This also means those that have the money can invest in the space industry to get their own tickets to travel out there. It’s no surprise that some celebs have already bought tickets to space to quell their curiosity!
SpaceShipTwo
To give you some background, you should know about SpaceShipTwo and its role in celebrity interests in space travel. SpaceShipTwo is a reusable item that is meant to carry eight people on a trip into space that they can return from, and the ship can then be reused. The trip is meant to be safe and act as a form of tourism in the air. When the idea first began in 2013 as well as since many celebrities have taken up interest or even paid the ticket price.
Justin Bieber
In 2013 when an idea was forming for a space travel ship called SpaceShipTwo, Justin Bieber paid a hefty price to have a spot on the trip. He supposedly paid $250k to get a ticket. Bieber was abuzz about the thought as well and even spoke of the desire to record a music video in space, according to some sources. It seems Justin was ready and excited for the opportunity for fame that a space trip could bring to his career.
Richard Branson
Richard Branson climbed his way up the celebrity and monetary ladder in life to become a billionaire that invests in and works on many different massive projects. He played a massive role in creating the idea of SpaceShipTwo as well as making the project more stable and popular. Without Branson, SpaceShipTwo would most likely have stayed in the idea phase. Whether he’ll come along for the trip or not is uncertain, though.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Famous actor and big-time celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to show incredibly quick interest in the space tourism idea when it first started, quickly snatching up a ticket before most of the other slots had been purchased. He even purchased and auctioned off the seat next to his own for charity, according to some sources. Even with their heavy interest in space, it seems Leonardo is also keeping charitable action close to heart in the matter.
Kate Winslet
DiCaprio’s Titanic co-star Kate Winslet received a ticket to get onto SpaceShipTwo, which was unusual and not purchased by her. Kate supposedly received her ticket from Leonardo himself as a wedding gift. The reported reasoning for it was that she had saved DiCaprio’s mother from a fire at his resort a while before the idea of SpaceShipTwo was around. Quite an interesting way to earn your way into space, that’s for sure!
Even celebrities seem to share our fascination with what’s out there beyond our home on Earth, and it seems some have decided to act on that thought with their own investments or other payments. I guess if you have enough money and influence, nothing is out of reach – not even outer space! Of course, we all know many of us would do the same if we had any of the resources to afford it, but living vicariously through celebrity action or other knowledge on the space travel effort seems to be all we have for now. It would certainly be interesting to know more about what’s out there, and there will probably be much more to come in our knowledge.