 a number of times, and watched the development, which was really interesting. So, I watched it right from the beginning.' And when asked if the 250,000 dollars he paid in 2005 for the ticket still seems worth it, he added: 'I think it's incredibly well-spent money. If at the time I was doing it with the Russians it would have cost me millions of dollars.' On developing Parkinson's disease since 2005, he said: 'I hope it instils other people to do what I'm doing, that it doesn't stop them from doing abnormal things. I'm really looking forward to it.' It comes after Virgin Galactic carried out its first-ever commercial spaceflight on a 90-minute tour of the atmosphere last month. The crew - made up of members of Italy's Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy - will spend the time conducting "suborbital scientific experiments" aboard the VSS Unity. The flight is scheduled to launch from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, with two Italian Air Force officers and an engineer w){kind=link}
Jon Goodwin, 80, who also suffers with Parkinson’s Disease, bought a ticket on Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight back in 2005, and hopes his adventure will inspire people to take on extraordinary feats
An 80-year-old with Parkinson’s disease who is set to blast off on Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight next month hopes his adventure will inspire others to do “abnormal things”.
Former Olympian Jon Goodwin bought his ticket in 2005 and has since developed the brain condition. Mr Goodwin told BBC Breakfast: “I am extremely excited, of course. I leave next week from New Mexico. 10th of August it is.”
Reflecting on the long wait, he said: “It’s completely surreal, I mean, I asked the inevitable question when I signed up in 2005, when it would be, and I was told 2008. Then it was 2009, 2010, until I learnt, to forget that.
“I always believed it would happen, a lot of people didn’t. I had a lot of faith in the project and went out to Mojave desert (in California) a number of times, and watched the development, which was really interesting. So, I watched it right from the beginning.” And when asked if the 250,000 dollars he paid in 2005 for the ticket still seems worth it, he added: “I think it’s incredibly well-spent money. If at the time I was doing it with the Russians it would have cost me millions of dollars.”