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Space Travel

Rocket Woman: Lucky Flight Attendant Going to Space

July 17, 2008 at 12:50 PM | 0 Comments

At least she's got her plane legs: A French flight attendant won a trip to space through a contest sponsored by the Oklahoma space development company Rocketplane.

Avid parachutist Mathilde Epron got the lucky Kit Kat wrapper that will make her eligible for a flight on the Rocketplane XP, currently scheduled to begin its four-man flights in 2010. She will get four days of astronaut training before soaring to some 62 miles above earth in the XP.

Despite the contest, the flight is no sure thing; the last time Rocketplane was in the news, NASA was yanking its $175 million commitment to the fledgling space carrier. But in case the company isn't ready to take flight by 2011, Nestle will pay Epron a consolation prize of €147,000--which she could potentially use (by then) on Virgin Galactic.

For some reason, we're really craving a Kit Kat break right now.

Related Stories:
· Mathilde Epron Eats a KitKat and Wins a Trip to Space [Miwim, in French]
· Space Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: df_btyhoo]