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Tech

We Want to Send You to Space

No, we're not kidding.

Would you like to visit space? Well, thanks to our friends at the Urgency Network, we're offering you the chance to take one of the first trips on XCOR's Lynx spacecraft. That's something I never thought I'd type, but hey, this is the future.

The program is called Ticket to Rise, and along the way we hope to do some good, too. Here's how it works: A donation of $10 or more to any of the many nonprofits the Urgency Network has partnered with will enter you in a drawing to win a Founder's Ticket from Space Expedition Corporation, along with concert tickets, gift cards, clothing, and more.

Giving more and spreading the word through the Ticket to Rise site means more entries into the drawing. Better yet, for every $1 million raised by the July 21 deadline, another ticket will be unlocked. (Space is global, and so is the contest; residents of most countries are eligible, but double check the contest rules before you sign up.)

Now, of course you're asking about the whole spaceflight thing. SXC expects the its Lynx Mark II spacecraft will top out at 103 kilometers above the Earth; 100 kilometers is where the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale marks the boundary of space (and who are we to argue with them?) which means when our winners land, they'll be able to say they've visited the great beyond with a straight face.

SXC's first flight is tentatively scheduled for the latter half of next year. Sure, it's a ways off, but no one said being an early adopter is easy. And you'd rather they took the time to iron out the bugs, right? We are talking about space after all.