He'll Be Among The First Suborbital Space Tourists

Volvo Cars of North America along with billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies today unveiled that a 41-year-old Denver man is the winner of a trip on a sub-orbital flight to space on Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic. Doug Ramsburg of Northglenn, CO, is expected to be among the first people to travel on a commercial flight to space. He was among the more than 135,000 aspiring astronauts who registered to win a trip to space as part of a promotional effort by Volvo to introduce its new XC90 SUV.

On February 6, during its first-ever Super Bowl advertisement, Volvo unveiled the Volvo XC90 V8 by comparing its power to a rocket blasting into space. Near the commercial's end, the ship's pilot revealed himself as Sir Richard, whose Virgin Galactic -- one of the world's first commercial space tourism operators -- plans to debut commercial space flight within the next two to three years.

The end of the ad revealed Volvo was giving away a chance to win a seat on one of Virgin's forthcoming commercial passenger-carrying spaceflights.

Volvo and Sir Richard introduced Ramsburg as the winner Friday during a news conference at the New York International Auto Show. His trip is valued at $200,000.

Now, Ramsburg will wait the two to three years for Virgin Galactic to commence operating commercial flights subject to the necessary safety and regulatory approvals. He will receive astronaut training and fly on one of Virgin's initial voyages. During the flight, he will experience weightlessness, view the stars above and see planet Earth below.

"Flying in space is a dream it seems that everyone has from a very young age onward," Ramsburg said. "Growing up in Denver, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, I would think, 'what's beyond these mountains?' Then, as I got older and would fly on airplanes, I would think, 'what's beyond this sky?' I never thought I'd actually get to find out. Now I will."

Ramsburg, a program assistant in the admissions office at the University of Colorado-Denver and native of Northglenn, learned about Volvo's Boldlygo Sweepstakes through media coverage in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. "It immediately caught my attention -- who wouldn't want to have that experience as a legacy? As soon as the ad ran during the game, I went to my computer and registered," Ramsburg said.

FMI: www.boldlygo.com, www.virgingalactic.com