Beyond the wild blue yonder, where the sky is actually black, has intrigued mankind for thousands of years. Since April 12, 1961, almost 500 earthlings have ventured into space (50 miles above Earth) and as far away as the moon. That number may begin to skyrocket in late 2010 as commercial passenger flights get underway. The price of a ticket may be out of reach for most people, but compared to the $25-30 million price tag to accompany Russian Cosmonauts, the price charged for the Virgin Gallactic experience, a mere $200 thousand, is a blue-light special. And instead of Russia, the flights originate and return to New Mexico’s own Spaceport America.

You can’t just call any travel agent to sign up, but New Mexico does have its own Accredited Space Agent in Albuquerque. Virgin partnered with Virtuoso, an international invitation-only consortium specializing in leisure travel, to oversee sales. In Albuquerque, All World Travel belongs to the group and its VP and GM, Alfred Volden, applied for and was chosen to be one of only 45 Accredited Space Agents for North America. He participated in centrifuge training to be able to describe some of what might be experienced by future astronauts. “Some of the reasons a person considers a Virgin Galactic trip,” Alfred shares, “is the spirit of adventure, a love of aviation, viewing earth from the sub-orbit vantage and perhaps even as a means of supporting the next technological step into the future.”

Edwin Sahakian is one of the elite “Founders,” meaning that he will be among the first 84 to travel with Virgin Galactic to space. The Founders were the first to see the unveiling of White Night Two, the mother ship, and they have had the opportunity to meet other future astronauts, or space participants as they are called by NASA, in both social and training functions held all over the world. “Being involved in the development stages of this space venture is almost as exciting as I expect the actual voyage to be,” Edwin stated. “Virgin Galactic has been great about making us feel that we are part of their company, and that includes everyone from Sir Richard Branson down.”

Edwin was asked, as he is frequently asked, what in the world drove him to take such a trip? He quickly answered, “Why in the world wouldn’t you want to make this trip? There are many reasons,” he continued, “but the main ones for me are the view from space, the sky going black in the middle of the day, the incredible acceleration and even more so, the deceleration. But in Edwin’s case, there is an even greater driving force. “I will be the first Armenian in space, and that means a lot to me.”

Edwin is a jet flight instructor and owns his own Citation Mustang. He works out of Burbank, California, but his nationality is Armenian. Of the 300 future astronauts with reserved seats on Virgin Galactic flights, most are from the United States, but 39 other nations are represented as well, with the highest numbers from the U.K., Spain, Portugal, Russia, Japan and Australia. Interestingly, the countries with the highest ratio per capita are New Zealand and Ireland.

Only a few have ties to the space industry, including British independent scientist and researcher James Lovelock, who has developed numerous instruments for NASA and who originated the Gaia hypothesis, which very simplistically put, describes the earth as a single organism. Almost 40 percent of the ticket holders, however, do have a pilot’s license and are therefore familiar with the magnitude of the quest.

The importance of safety appears to be, as it should be, first and foremost. Sir Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Galactic and the airline, Virgin Atlantic, understands the absolutey critical nature of passenger safety. There are, of course, safety concerns, whether climbing into a rocket or into an automobile for a Sunday drive. Edwin shares, however, that he gave the safety aspect a lot of thought before signing on. “Virgin Atlantic airlines has an excellent safety record. The fact that both the carrier ship as well as the space vehicle itself are winged aircraft and that at any point during the flight, engines can be turned off and the ship can simply glide back to port is an incredibly reassuring feeling.” Perhaps the most convincing aspect of the safety program is the fact that Branson and his family will make the first flight.

There are still hurdles to cross in the development of White Knight Two, the mother ship, and Space Ship Two and the completion of Spaceport America, but it is safe to say that work is progressing at warp speed toward the first flight date of late 2010 or early 2011.