Cullen insists he’ll be first Irishman in orbit but space expert begs to differ

THE Apprentice’s Bill Cullen has reasserted his claim to be the first Irishman in orbit after comments from another Irish businessman suggested he could be beaten to the spacecraft door.

Entrepreneur and space enthusiast PJ King, 41, was quoted on American news station CNN as claiming he was looking forward to being on board the first commercial space flight on Virgin Galactic, which could be flying into orbit within the next 18 months.

The space craft had its first manned commercial flight test on October 10 when pilots flew the craft over the Mojave desert in California.

It is understood some 360 people have signed up to be among the first on board the VSS Enterprise, including businessman Bill Cullen of TV3’s The Apprentice.

A spokesman for Cullen said as the former Renault Ireland boss was the very first person internationally to pay the $200,000 (€142,000) fee and sign a contract with Virgin Galactic, “Bill would be very confident that he will be the first Irishman in space”.

Of the other Irish people understood to have paid the fee to Virgin Galactic, businessman PJ King told CNN he had undergone centrifuge training to experience in-flight stresses stronger than gravity, known as G-forces.

“At six Gs, talking is extremely difficult, It feels like you’ve got a weight on your chest and your head is stuck to the back of the seat,” he said.

“I believe in this. This is not a just a bunch of rich people going into space for fun.”

However, he told the Irish Examiner he was one of three Irish people in the first group of 84 worldwide to have signed up in the early stages of the programme.

“This group travel first and will have their seat allocation decided by lottery, the remaining passengers all have ticket numbers for their flight and travel in order of ticket number,” he said. “Each flight consists of six paying passengers and two pilots. With three founding astronauts in the first group, Ireland is one of the most represented countries per capita in the world in this project.

“Indeed the whole question of who goes first is one of marginal importance when considered in the light of this historic project.”

King holds a Bachelors Degree in Physics from Trinity College Dublin, and a Master’s Degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University and grew his software company Clockworks International into a multi-million enterprise before selling it.

On his website, www.pjking.com, he describes himself as “a Virgin Galactic founder astronaut”, although astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, has taken issue with the use of the term “astronauts”.

He told CNN: “I don’t think these space tourists should be called astronauts.

“That term was created by the US military. My suggestions would be star-traveller or star-flyer.”

Whoever finally makes it on board the first Virgin Galactic flight will view the earth from 62 miles above the surface. It is understood Richard Branson will be involved in the final decision as to who makes it on board, with the selection possibly taking place next year.

* www.virgingalactic.com