Olympian with Parkinson's prepares for space trip

A Virgin Galactic ticket holder is preparing to become one of the first paying space tourists, despite getting a Parkinson's diagnosis.

Jon Goodwin, 80, from Staffordshire, paid $250,000 for his ticket in 2005 but had feared his diagnosis would mean he could not take part.

The firm had been fantastic, he said, and the space craft is due to launch on or about 10 August with him aboard.

The Olympian said he wanted to defy his condition.

Mr Goodwin, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, was a canoeist for Great Britain at the 1972 Munich Games.

Parkinson's disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over the years.

He said: "Three years ago I climbed Kilimanjaro and cycled down, just to prove that [Parkinson's] wasn't going to get me and [the space flight] is the same thing."

The ticket cost him $250,000 (£191,000), and they are now worth as much as £350,000.

"I think the opportunity to do something that's not been done before by many people at that price is a real bargain," he said.

Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic took three people into space on a flight paid for by the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council.

Company owner Sir Richard Branson completed a similar trip in July 2021.

From 8 August members of the public will be able to fly on the commercial flight as astronauts.

About 800 people have bought tickets to take a space trip so far.

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