So is Paris Hilton headed for outer space? Do you even care? Well, the Sunday Mirror newspaper in the UK thinks so, reporting that Hilton has paid the full $200,000 price for a flight on Virgin Galactic. A “source close to Paris” told the paper that Hilton has been “a fan of the Star Wars films and the idea of blasting into space thrills her”, but wonders if the young overexposed socialite has really “done the research” about what’s involved with the flight. One suspects that Virgin Galactic would be very straightforward with any prospective customer about the flight and the risks involved, but that doesn’t mean the customer, celebrity or otherwise, would pay attention.
The Mirror reports that Hilton would join a number of other celebrities planning to fly on SpaceShipTwo, including William Shatner, Kate Moss, and Sigourney Weaver. However, Weaver told an online publication that she has no plans to spend a “staggering $100,000″ on such a flight (staggering, perhaps, since it would be a 50% discount on the current going rate). She said she worried she has already been to space “so many times in my imagination”, and worried that the real thing might not live up to expectations. It true, it wouldn’t the first time that a celebrity denied reports about signing up with Virgin Galactic: earlier this year William Shatner denied reports he was a customer, even asking “Who the heck wants to go out into space?!”
“So is Paris Hilton headed for outer space? Do you even care?”
Actually I do care. Don’t forget that she is the heiress of the Hilton Hotel chain. That’s one of the primary companies that I’d like to see get involved in the new space industry over the next 15 years.