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- <text id=90TT3493>
- <title>
- Dec. 31, 1990: American Notes:Space
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Dec. 31, 1990 The Best Of '90
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 17
- American Notes
- SPACE
- High-Flying Sweepstakes
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> Want a real blast? The thrill of a ride in space seems so
- enticing to adventurous Americans that callers last week jammed
- the lines of a Houston company that offered a chance to win a
- trip to Soviet space station Mir. The winner of the sweepstakes
- would have to train for as long as six months in the Soviet
- Union but would also get $500,000. Or if he or she got cold feet
- and decided to pass up the rocket ride, the earthbound
- consolation prize would be $1.5 million.
- </p>
- <p> The starry offer was made by Space Travel Services Corp.,
- a company formed by three Houston space enthusiasts who hope to
- serve as travel agents for intrepid souls who want to go out of
- this world. Soviet officials confirmed that a letter of intent
- to take on an American passenger has been signed with an
- intermediary for the Texas firm.
- </p>
- <p> Would-be cosmonauts have plenty of time to ponder the
- far-out trip: the drawing is set for next December, and the
- flight may not occur until 1993. Texas officials, however, have
- begun an investigation to determine whether the conditions of
- the offer amounted to a lottery rather than a sweepstakes. If
- so, it would violate state law and presumably be canceled long
- before the countdown begins.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
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