Virgin Galactic announced the winner of the giveaway of two tickets to spaceflight. The lucky figure previously participated in a giveaway contest held by Virgin Galactic and Omaze last July.
The winner of the free trip to space was Keisha S, a health practitioner from Antigua and Barbuda. He plans to fly with his daughter, who happens to be an astrophysics student.
"I've always had a love for flying and an affinity for outer space, and this is truly a dream come true for me," Keisha said in her official statement, as quoted from Space, Sunday (11/28/2021).
"I look forward to sharing this experience with my daughter, so that together we can inspire the next generation to pursue their dreams."
In total, Keisha won a prize of USD 900,000. As is known, Virgin Galactic sells flight tickets to space at a price of USD 450,000 per seat.
Virgin Galactic and Omaze announced the giveaway last July, right after the Unity spacecraft made its first manned flight.
The mission, known as Unity 22, will take Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and three other crew members to the edge of space. They flew using the VSS Unity aircraft carried by the VMS Eve carrier plane.
There is no charge to enter the giveaway, but participants are asked to make donations via Omaze. The contest ended on August 31 and raised USD 1.7 million in donations from 164,338 people.
The proceeds of the donations collected will be handed over to the non-profit organization Space for Humanity which runs the Citizen Astronaut Program. This program invites anyone to register and have the opportunity to fly into space.
Virgin Galactic and Omaze have not announced when Keisha and her daughter will fly into space. But it doesn't look like it's in the near future because the VMS Eve plane is still under maintenance and repair.
A Virgin Galactic representative said VSS Unity and VMS Eve will likely fly together again in mid-2022.
