SPACE.com -- Fly 10 Million Miles and Earn a Trip Into Space

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	Fly 10 Million Miles and Earn a Trip Into Space By Jim Banke Senior Producer, posted: 11:30 am ET 11 March 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Scientists may have to redo their math because the number of miles a person needs to fly to get into space just got a little higher.

It's generally accepted that you have to fly more than 50 miles above sea level to get into space, but according to air carrier US Airways and the space tourism firm Space Adventures future space tourists will have to fly a whopping 10 million miles to get their space wings.

"It is a lot of miles," said Tereza Predescu, spokeswoman for Arlington, Virginia-based Space Adventures, Ltd. The company announced Monday a partnership with US Airways to offer members of the airline's Dividend Miles frequent flyer program a chance to earn or redeem miles towards a variety of space-related adventures.

Fly 10 million miles on US Airways -- the equivalent of circling the planet some 250 times -- and you can take a free half-hour suborbital lob into space aboard a reusable rocket expected to be available by 2005. Retail price of this space adventure is $98,000.

The agreement means that US Airways has become the world's first airline to offer mileage accrual and redemption for space travel.

US Airways Senior Vice President of Marketing B. Ben Baldanza called the opportunity an "exciting new out-of-this-world endeavor."

Other space-related experiences are available to US Airways Dividend members, including:

Redeem 30,000 miles, pay a fee of $650, and take a trip to the Kennedy Space Center to see a shuttle launch and get admission to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for a behind-the-scenes tour of the spaceport. Or pay full retail price of $1,150 based on double occupancy and earn 5,000 miles.
Redeem 250,000 miles, pay a fee of $2,000, and travel to Russia to fly on a Soviet-era cargo plane to experience several 30-second periods of weightlessness. Or pay full retail price of $5,400 based on double occupany and earn 50,000 miles.

During the 1960s, PanAm Airways sold tickets for the airline's inaugural flight to the Moon -- whenever that might turn out to be -- but the public understood the offer was largely a novelty and a public relations ploy. That's not the case here, company officials said.

"This is for real, definitely," Predescu said. "People who travel a lot can have the opportunity to go into space, and U.S. Airways Dividend members will be some of the first space tourists to go up."

Space Adventures is the company responsible for arranging travel to the International Space Station for U.S. businessman Dennis Tito in April 2001 and South African Internet wonder Mark Shuttleworth this coming April. Polish businessman Leszek Czarnecki is considering a ride in November with the help of the company.

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