To infinity and beyond
Aspiring astronaut David Holt with his sister Marianne.
PHILOSOPHY student David Holt has always dreamed of going into space - and now with some clicks of a mouse he could be a step closer to infinity and beyond.
The 20-year-old has entered a competition offering the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on one of the first flights into space with tourism company SPACEXC.
David, from Dalton Piercy, on the outskirts of Hartlepool, currently stands around 250th of 6,000 on an online leaderboard of astronaut hopefuls and needs to get inside the top 200 to make it to the next stage.
If he makes it through, he will then battle his competitors in an assault course challenge in Manchester before the top select few fly out to Orlando, Florida, for three final training missions.
The overall winner will then have a spot on one of the flights which flies 64 miles upwards into space.
But rather than getting ahead of himself, David, a former student at High Tunstall College of Science and Hartlepool College of Further Education, is focusing on getting past the first stage - and is appealing for help securing a spot in the top 200.
“It’s always been my dream to go to space so when I saw this competition I entered that second,” said David, who is studying Philosophy and Religious Studies at Lancaster University.
“Everything about space just fascinates me and I think we know so little about it. People dream about exploring the arctic or climbing to the peak of the world’s highest mountains, for me the dream is going to space.
“The winner of this competition gets to go one of the flights to space which people are paying £1m to get on.
“I’m 250th out of 6,000 at the minute, so not far away.
“It would be fantastic if I could get just a few more votes which could help push me inside the top 200. It’s free to vote.”
David has vowed to get in the best shape of his life so he is ready for the physical challenge if he does make it through the online vote.
“I want to give myself the best chance possible,” he added.
“I know it’s only a dream at the minute and it’s still a long way off, but this is such an opportunity.
“If I was to win I would be the fourth British person to go into space and obviously the first from Hartlepool, it would just be incredible.”
The online vote runs until the end of April.
To vote visit here and click the vote icon.
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Weather for Hartlepool
Sunday 19 May 2013
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Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
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