Former Olympian with Parkinson's, 80, makes history as oldest Brit to travel to space
An 80-year-old former Olympian has made history by blasting off on a Virgin Galactic flight and becoming the oldest Brit to ever travel to space.
Jon Goodwin, who represented Great Britain at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, made his journey on board the VSS Unity today (10 August), while his wife, Pauline, and their two sons cheered him on at Spaceport America, New Mexico.
The trip to space lasts a total of 90 minutes, and comes almost a decade after Goodwin, a former canoeist, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014.
Advert
The disease causes parts of the brain become progressively damaged over and can cause involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles.
Goodwin hasn't slowed down after being diagnosed, though, and in the last few years has successfully climbed up Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled back down again.
As he ventured into space, Goodwin became the second person diagnosed with Parkinson’s to make the journey, as well as the oldest Brit to travel to space and the first ever Olympian to become an astronaut.
Discussing his venture in a statement to Virgin Galactic, Goodwin said: "Seeing me do this will hopefully be inspirational to all the other people who face challenges in their lives.
"I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the start rather than the end to new adventures, and that they can be the impetus to do even greater things.”
The trip today comes almost two decades after Goodwin first bought his ticket for the trip in 2005, at which time he paid around £156,000 ($200,000). Today, the trip costs closer to £350,000 ($450,000).
Goodwin spoke about his trip in an interview with BBC Breakfast on Sunday (6 August), when he admitted it felt 'completely surreal' to be finally taking on the trip after first booking it so many years ago.
“I always believed it would happen, a lot of people didn’t,” Goodwin said. “I had a lot of faith in the project and went out to the Mojave Desert, in California, a number of times, [to] watch the development.
"I think it’s incredibly well-spent money," Goodwin continued. "If, at the time, I was doing it with the Russians, it would have cost me millions of dollars.”
As for taking on the challenge with Parkinson’s diagnosis, the former Olympian said: “I hope it [encourages] other people to do what I’m doing, that it doesn’t stop them from doing abnormal things. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Emily Brown