31, Jul, 2010

Maine Man to Visit Space

Written by spacetravel.org

Tuesday, 09 June 2009 09:01

Stephen LaVerdiere will become the first native of Maine to visit space as a tourist. LaVerdiere, the former owner of LaVerdiere Super Drug Stores will be traveling for two and a half hours aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo next year. He will travel up to 80 miles above the Earth's surface along with two pilots and five other tourists. The trip will cost him $200,000.

LaVerdiere, of Belgrade Lakes, Maine, is a pilot but could not become an astronaut because his eyesight was not good enough.

The 59-year-old Maine native made his fortune by becoming a pharmacist, then working his way up to become the owner of a large pharmacy chain, which he eventually sold to Rite-Aid.

During his voyage, LaVerdiere will experience weightlessness and be able to see approximately one thousand miles in each direction.

Virgin Galactic's carrier craft WhiteKnightTwo will launch SpaceShipTwo from California's Mojave Desert.

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic is owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson. About 100 space tourists are will be flying with Virgin Galactic next year.

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