Will Ride Onboard Virgin Galactic Flight

Loretta and George Whitesides plan to become the first couple to honeymoon in space... and on Valentine's Day, the pair launched a new website to share the excitement of their upcoming adventure with the public.

"Growing up, we both had the dream to go to space," said George Whitesides, newlywed and Executive Director of the National Space Society. "We feel incredibly lucky to be able to achieve that dream together."

Loretta and George are two of 100 Virgin Galactic 'Founders' -- the people who have paid in full to be the first to fly on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Spaceline.

"We hope that with our flight, we can help bring love and peace to a place that is very important to us -- space," said Loretta, who is the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, a worldwide celebration of spaceflight.

The suborbital spaceflight will launch the couple over 100 km high, past the boundary of space. The flight will include several minutes of weightlessness, a view of the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth.

The Space Love website will document the preparation and lead-up to the flight, and include suggestions for others who wish to celebrate their own honeymoons, anniversaries or even weddings in space.

George and Loretta are no strangers to weightlessness, with both having flown as crew for Zero G Corporation's weightless flights (as shown above in one of Jim Campbell's Zero G pix during the 2004 certification flights).

"We have even had our first Zero G kiss," commented Loretta, adding, "weightlessness just has a magic to it."

FMI: www.spacelove.org