If a trip into space isn't a once-in-a-lifetime experience by itself, what if you were seated next to one of the world's biggest stars? At an auction at the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS charity dinner in Cannes on Thursday night, the highest bidder snared a seat next to Leonardo DiCaprio on the Virgin Galactic. The winning bid was for 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million).
DiCaprio was present at the charity dinner, as were Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz, both of whom are part of the Cannes jury.
The auction was arranged by Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company. "We're going to get someone to bid on a seat next to him (DiCaprio)," he said in an interview to Hollywood Reporter before the event; the identity of the star was listed merely as "mystery guest" in the auction booklet. The article further reported that Weinstein joked that "many in the film business might love to see him fly to space as well, 'but only on a one-way ticket'."
A whole host of celebrities is believed to have tickets to be a part of what Richard Branson calls his most "exciting business" - Ashton Kutcher was congratulated by Branson and mentioned in his blog for being passenger number 500. According to the website, a seat into space as a "pioneer astronaut" is worth about $200,000 (tickets are nearly sold out). Refundable deposits for a later flight seat as a "voyager astronaut" start at $20,000.
A part of the experience that Virgin Galactic is promising reads as follows: "The silence of space is as awe inspiring as was the noise of the rocket just moments earlier. What's really getting your senses screaming now though, is that the gravity which has dominated every movement you've made since the day you were born is not there any more. There is no up and no down and you're out of your seat experiencing the freedom that even your dreams underestimated.
After a graceful mid-space summersault you find yourself at a large window and what you see is a view that you've seen in countless images but the reality is so much more beautiful and provokes emotions that are strong but hard to define."
According to media reports, Virgin Galactic's inaugural commercial spaceflight could be scheduled for Dec 25 this year.
