The space trips made by Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have rekindled the hopes of Kerala-based solo traveller Santhosh George Kulangara, the first Indian space tourist selected by the Virgin Group. Kulangara, known for his travelogues and travel documentaries, had cleared the selection process for space exploration as early as in 2007.
The 49-year-old had undergone rigorous training, including the zero-gravity training, at Kennedy Space Centre after being selected. He has also done a travelogue of his initial training sessions.
Kulangara has travelled in more than 130 countries and his travel documentaries are being aired on his Safari TV channel. It was during such a visit to England in 2005, he came across a newspaper advertisement inviting application for space travellers. He booked the seat for $2.5 lakh.
"After that lot of paperwork took place and it was in 2007 that his application for it was cleared. Then I had regular meetings with them at their Space Centre or at their office in California and completed two training programmes in 2012 and 2013 and since then it's been a wait," he told IANS.
However, Kulangara said, the long wait had dimmed his excitement. “I do not consider that a space travel is the ultimate dream, that I have now, but nevertheless, I am happy that with their first mission taking place last week has turned successful, is definitely a good sign that my travel might take place soon," he told the news agency.
Kulangara hopes he can go for the space trip this year itself. He said he had sought permission to carry a video camera at the time of booking his ticket so that he can capture the moments which the inbuilt cameras may miss.
A native of Marangattupilly in Kottayam district, he also heads the Labour India Publications which brings out educational books and magazines. He is also setting up a 50,000 sq feet production studio in Kochi, which is nearing completion.
