Photo: Instagram / Ashton Kutcher
Until the time Virgin Galactic makes space travel accessible to everyone, there are several conditions that have to be met to be one of the few lucky private astronauts. The first one is for Virgin to get more spaceplanes up and back down again, so it can start commercial operations sometime in 2022.
That out of the way, you still have two more prerequisites: you have to be rich enough to afford a $250,000 ticket without breaking the bank, and you have to know people who know people, so you can get on the list. Actor and entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher checked both these boxes, but he’s still not going to space anytime soon.
His comments come on the heels of Virgin Galactic’s first successful launch last weekend, which saw CEO Sir Richard Branson become the first private astronaut in the world (which may or may not be code for “billionaire who flew close to the edge of space”), on board Unity 22. In a new interview with Cheddar News, Kutcher revealed that he too had a ticket for space and was supposed to make the journey with Virgin’s second launch.
It won’t happen, because he was talked out of it – by wife Mila Kunis. Kutcher says (video at the bottom of the page) that he got his name on the list of 600 people and bought the ticket, only to have a chat with Mila, who pointed that “it was not a smart family decision to be heading into space when we have young children.” So, he sold the ticket back to Virgin Galactic (not at a profit, one assumes) and temporarily shelved his space traveling dreams.
Not all is lost, though. “I will fly to space at some point,” Kutcher says.
As Virgin Galactic, along with direct rivals SpaceX and Blue Origin, get closer to commercial operations, interviews of this kind will become more frequent. For all this talk about how these endeavors are making space “accessible to all” (we’re paraphrasing), it will be the world’s richest who will get to enjoy them first.
His comments come on the heels of Virgin Galactic’s first successful launch last weekend, which saw CEO Sir Richard Branson become the first private astronaut in the world (which may or may not be code for “billionaire who flew close to the edge of space”), on board Unity 22. In a new interview with Cheddar News, Kutcher revealed that he too had a ticket for space and was supposed to make the journey with Virgin’s second launch.
It won’t happen, because he was talked out of it – by wife Mila Kunis. Kutcher says (video at the bottom of the page) that he got his name on the list of 600 people and bought the ticket, only to have a chat with Mila, who pointed that “it was not a smart family decision to be heading into space when we have young children.” So, he sold the ticket back to Virgin Galactic (not at a profit, one assumes) and temporarily shelved his space traveling dreams.
Not all is lost, though. “I will fly to space at some point,” Kutcher says.
As Virgin Galactic, along with direct rivals SpaceX and Blue Origin, get closer to commercial operations, interviews of this kind will become more frequent. For all this talk about how these endeavors are making space “accessible to all” (we’re paraphrasing), it will be the world’s richest who will get to enjoy them first.
Actor and investor @aplusk says he was supposed to be on the next Virgin Galactic flight, but sold his ticket to space. ???? Don't miss the full interview on Cheddar at 3:20 p.m. ET. https://t.co/fi07qhm3FE pic.twitter.com/HVMei8mnrZ
— Cheddar News ???? (@cheddar) July 14, 2021
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