Global News: Winnipeg woman pays $200K to join Virgin Galactic flight to space

As Global reports on alumna and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Judy Anderson:

A Winnipeg woman will be among the first group of Canadians to board Virgin Galactic’s space plane when it begins commercial flights.

Judy Anderson, a retired University of Manitoba professor, has been saving for her trip to space since 2010, when she first found out about billionaire Richard Branson’s plans to take people off the planet.

“I’m so looking forward to it,” Anderson said.

Anderson purchased ticket 623 for $200,000 USD at the time with a $20,000 down payment. She’ll have to pay the rest in full about three months before her flight…Branson joined five company employees for a successful test flight Sunday morning, which took off from New Mexico’s southern desert.

Anderson skipped breakfast to watch it unfold on three different monitors.

“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “I didn’t expect to be as excited as I was.”

Anderson has dreamed of leaving the planet for decades and attempted to become an astronaut in 1993.

Watch the full Global story here.