One lucky person will be crossing "space travel" off their bucket list when they win top prize in Space Race 2012, a contest launched today by the Seattle Space Needle. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Space Needle is partnering with Space Adventures, a private space travel company, to send one winner on a suborbital space flight.
With the end of NASA's space shuttle program, expeditions off the planet are now left in the hands of private companies like Space Adventures. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was on hand at the launch of the contest, explaining that this new space race to launch average citizens to where once only astronauts could go is just as crucial to exploration as the moon mission he participated in in 1969. Keep reading to find out more about the Space Race 2012 grand prize.
