Scots astronaut Dave Mackay is aiming to take the worlds richest celebs into space next year – The Scottish Sun

SCOTS astronaut Dave Mackay aims to take the worlds richest celebs into space next year and reckons regular punters could soon have the chance to feel out of this world too.

Dave made history in February when he guided Virgin Galactics VSS Unity spacecraft 50km above the Earths surface.

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Now the 62-year-old pilot is getting ready to fly non-astronauts beyond the stratosphere as Sir Richard Bransons dream of commercial space flights becomes a reality in 2020.

More than 600 people believed to include the likes of pop star Justin Bieber and Hollywood A-lister Leonard DiCaprio have already splashed out nearly 200,000 each for a ticket on the maiden voyages.

But Scotlands first man in space believes we all deserve to fly among the stars once and that it will be a realistic aim for many of us one day.

Dave who was brought up in Helmsdale, Sutherland says: I wish everybody could go to space.

Its not just for the rich if some people are really determined to do it they can probably raise enough for the ticket price. Some people have even mortgaged their house to do this.

It doesnt matter who you are on our flights. Everybody is important. All passengers will be treated the same. I wont put a timescale on it but I think the prices will come down.

Its in the same way that initial air travel was back in the 1930s when it was very expensive and only wealthy people travelled. Eventually it became almost ubiquitous.

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I dont know if space travel will go exactly that way but I think it could follow in that trend.

As a youngster, Daves rocket-fuelled ambitions were inspired by watching fast jets from RAF Lossiemouth air station passing overhead.

And in 1964 he was awarded a prize at Sunday School for good attendance a book called Exploring Space with a cutaway of a Mercury capsule on the cover.

At 15 years old, he wrote to the aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley and told them about his aviation ambitions and got a reply from its chief test pilot, Duncan Simpson.

Dave later joined the RAF in 1979 and started test pilot training in 1987.

In 1995, he joined Virgin Atlantic to fly commercial aircraft before joining Sir Richard Branson 10 years later in his efforts to take tourists on space flights with Virgin Galactic.

When he finally made it to space this year, the dad-of-two admits travelling at 2,500mph and three times the speed of sound to 295,000ft was even better than he imagined.

Dave who announced Welcome to space, Scotland! over the radio as he left the Earths atmosphere says: It had been dream of mine since I was a young boy to go to space and that was really fulfilling.

As it was a test flight, we were weightless for just over three minutes and wanted to gather as much information as we could as quickly as we could.

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And we also made sure to look out and take the view in.

I looked to the left and could see so much of North America it was disorientating. It was covered in snow and was the most incredible view.

Seeing things with your own eyes is a whole different ball game from looking at a picture. Pictures are beautiful but the human eye is capable of absorbing an incredible range of brightness.

The Earths surface is very bright and, in contrast, space is a dense, deep, matte black. It wasnt like anything captured in any pictures Id looked at.

You can make out details in the atmosphere. You see the curvature and scale of the Earth and stare out into the deep blackness of space.

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The view out of the window is extraordinary and you just get the impression we are a long way from anywhere else.

Dave now lives in the Nevada mountains with his wife Sue. Their son Duncan, 24, has already followed in his footsteps after becoming an airline pilot in Colorado.

Daughter Katharine, 19, is studying at university in California. And he admits hed love to take a family trip to space one day.

Dave says: My children would love to but my wife likes to have her feet on the ground most of the time.

Ive taken her up in airplanes but its not for everybody. My mother is the same. Shes flown once in her life and that was enough.

After that she didnt want to do it again and she doesnt understand where my passion for it comes from.

Since making the journey himself, Dave reckons those lucky enough to go to space will realise its about more than just fun. In fact, he thinks passengers will return to Earth with a bang when they realise how delicate our planet is.

He says: I know how they will feel after the flight and it will give me tremendous pleasure to take them on that ride and see their faces afterwards.

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I now know myself how thin the atmosphere is and how the entire human race is dependent on that thin layer gas surrounding the planet.

I think seeing our beautiful planet in combination with the deep void of space makes you realise how precious it is.

And I suspect a lot of people will return from a space flight with us more determined to look after our planet and get on better with other human beings because its a very special place and we need to take care of it.

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Scots astronaut Dave Mackay is aiming to take the worlds richest celebs into space next year - The Scottish Sun