To outer space, we go!

(Published on January 20, 2013, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle)

Be the First Filipino in Space by 2014

What can be the most epic prize on earth? For travel e r s a n d adventure seekers, it is a trip abroad or in the most obscure place on the globe. But a men's grooming brand ups the ante and recently announced an out of this world reward--a trip to outer space.

And by 2014, one lucky Filipino will fly to the outer space with the help of Axe, a men's personal care brand, in partnership with space travel agency Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) and American private spaceflight development XCOR Aerospace.

“This is an opportunity for our nation to join the global community in taking the next big leap. We're very excited to meet the first Pinoy astronaut. It could be anyone,“ Brand Manager Gem Laforteza said.

The project dubbed as “Axe Apollo Space Academy (AASA)“, an effort meant to rhyme with NASA, is sending 22 untrained civilians with absolutely no business floating around in zero gravity through Lynx, a suborbital space plane, developed by the XCOR Aerospace.
Lynx can seat a pilot and one passenger.

The 22 winners will take turns in flying 103 km up to space. The flight provides a weightlessness experience for five to six minutes before the Lynx descends.

Anyone--males and females, 18 years old and above--can join the local competitions in countries in partnership with Axe. Axe Philippines will choose the first top 10,000 local recruits through popularity and online votes. They will endure mental and physical tests. Aspiring Filipino space travelers can visit and sign up in http://www.AxeApollo.com before Feb. 3.

After the national challenge, each country's top two performing representatives will travel to Orlando, Florida to take part in the final selection in the Global Space Camp, to see who are fit for the outer space exploration.

“Space travel for everyone is the next frontier in the human experience,“ brand spokesperson Buzz Aldrin, said in a statement, “I'm thrilled that Axe is giving the young people of today such an extraordinary opportunity to experience some of what I've encountered in space.“

Aldrin is the second person to walk on the moon in NASA's 1969 Apollo 11.

The search for space travelers is in celebration of the global launch of a new fragrance called Axe Apollo.