Bob Geldof To Become First Irishman In Space

Bob Geldof has revealed that he plans to travel into space next year, and if he does he will become the first Irish astronaut ever.

The Irish rocker is planning to be a passenger on a commercial flight, which will send 100 people into the stratosphere in 2014.

Space Expedition Corporation tickets will cost $100,000 each, and it will see astronauts travel around 62 miles into space. This expedition will set off from Curacao in the Southern Caribbean sea.

Geldof’s planned trip is celebrity ladened, with DJ Armin van Buuren and Doutzen Kroes, a Victoria’s Secret model, set to join the Boomtown Rats singer for the journey.

Geldof remarked of his impending trip, “Being the first Irishman in space is not only a fantastic honour but pretty mind-blowing. The first rock astronaut space rat! Elvis may have left the building but Bob Geldof will have left the Planet! Wild! Who would have thought it possible in my lifetime.”

Geldof will now enjoy his first period of training in a space flight simulator, which will take place in the Netherlands this upcoming weekend.

Passengers will fly on the Lynx X2, a privately built spacecraft, which possesses a two-crew cockpit that allows its passengers to have a “true co-pilot astronaut experience.”

Describing the vessel, Spacexc.com, notes:

The Lynx carries only two people; the pilot-astronaut and you, the spaceflight participant, in the right seat.

You are in the best seat, up front with all the action, watching every move of the pilot. You are truly part of the mission, not just cargo.

This also means that you will be given a suitable “call sign,” a pilot nickname.

And, just like any other pilot, you will have no say in this at all.

The Lynx cockpit also features a canopy that is four meters wide, which makes “it the most impressive theater in the world (and beyond).”

[Image via s_bukley/Shutterstock]