The $1 million price tag benefited AIDS research, but regular tickets for Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceliner sell for $250,000. DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie, and Justin Bieber already have reservations. The first commercial flight could happen this year.<\/p>\n
As if flying to space weren't exciting and surreal enough on its own, someone just plunked down nearly $1 million to make the trip with movie star Leonardo DiCaprio. <\/p>\n
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DiCaprio plans to fly aboard Virgin Galactic's suborbitalSpaceShipTwo space planein 2015. A seat on the same flight with the actor sold for 700,000 euros ($954,000 at current exchange rates) on May 22 at the annual amfAR auction near Cannes, France, which benefits AIDS research,Variety reported. <\/p>\n
The 2015 DiCaprio flight is filling up fast; at last year's amfAR auction, three other seats on it sold for a combined $3.8 million. (SpaceShipTwo can accommodate six passengers and two pilots.) <\/p>\n
TheSpaceShipTwo spacelineris designed to be carried up to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) by a mothership named WhiteKnightTwo. After being dropped, the space plane's rocket engine fires up, boosting the vehicle into suborbital space. <\/p>\n
Passengers aboard SpaceShipTwo will get to see Earth against the blackness of space and experience a few minutes of weightlessness, Virgin Galactic representatives say. <\/p>\n
Regular tickets to ride the commercial spaceliner sell for $250,000, and to date more than 700 people have put down deposits to reserve a seat. DiCaprio is not the only celebrity with plans to fly; actors Ashton Kutcher and Angelina Jolie have booked tickets, as has singer Justin Bieber. <\/p>\n
And Virgin Galactic's founder, billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has said he and his family will be aboard the first commercial flight of SpaceShipTwo. <\/p>\n
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Trip to space with Leonardo DiCaprio auctioned off for $1 million<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The $1 million price tag benefited AIDS research, but regular tickets for Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceliner sell for $250,000. DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie, and Justin Bieber already have reservations Continue reading