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For Immediate Release
Contact: Jane Reifert
Sarasota, FL
800-644-7382 / 941-346-2603
Space Flight Training Takes Off at Kennedy Space
Center:
Florida Couple Are First to Fly Supersonic Fighter Jet
Two Florida companies are teaming up to offer space flight
training in the same supersonic fighter jet once used to train
astronauts. Incredible Adventures markets a multi-day training
program for Starfighters Aerospace. Their first clients, a husband
and wife, just completed training in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
(PRWEB)
February 27, 2010 -- Two Florida residents have become the first
to complete a new commercial space flight training program at
NASA's John F Kennedy
Space Center. Terence Witt, founder of Witt Biomedical, and his
wife Virginia trained for space in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter,
the same supersonic plane used to prepare Mercury, Gemini and
Apollo astronauts for space travel.
The two completed a multi-day training program with Starfighters
Aerospace, a privately-owned company that maintains a fleet of
F-104 Starfighters approved for use in flight training and scientific
testing. Starfighters Aerospace is the only company authorized
by both the FAA and NASA to offer civilian suborbital space flight
training out of Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility. The company's
Starfighters take off and land on the very same runway used by
the US Space Shuttle.
The
Witts each passed a mandatory medical evaluation and completed
two days of ground school covering the principles of atmospheric
pressure and high-altitude flight before completing training in
a hypobaric pressure chamber. Then, they received an extensive
flight safety briefing, complete with ejection seat and parachute
training, and strapped into the cockpit of an F-104 Starfighter.
Each completed a flight profile carefully designed to prepare
future space tourists for the physical challenges of a suborbital
space flight. A high-speed vertical climb simulated the high sustained
g-forces of a rocket launch and was followed by a supersonic flight
over the Atlantic Ocean. A parabolic maneuver exposed the couple
to the sensation of weightlessness.
"My life can now be separated into two distinct parts, the part
before I flew an F-104 and the part after. I can't thank the Starfighter
team enough for making this possible," said Witt, a licensed turbine
pilot. "To say that it was merely 'incredible' does it a great
disservice."
Mrs. Witt was equally enthusiastic after her Starfighter flight.
"Wow. There are no words to describe this ride."
The couple purchased their Starfighters Aerospace training package
from Incredible Adventures, an international adventure company
based in Sarasota, Florida. The company has an exclusive contract
to market the Starfighters Aerospace F-104 program for Starfighters,
Inc. Future space tourists can choose from two training programs
and can reserve space by calling Incredible Adventures at 800-644-7382.
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