ALBAWABA - Sometimes it's easy to forget that dreams can come true, no matter how old you are, in the end, age is just a number.
John Goodwin, is an 80 years old American man with Parkinson's disease with a dream since childhood of being able to travel to space, a dream many people of all ages have at some point, but it usually doesn't last, but not for John.
He was able to fulfil his dream of going to space when he travelled as part of a trip organized by the American company, "Virgin Galactic". He arrived in space with civilians and pilots, on a journey that lasted about 60 minutes, and then returned to Earth.
John Goodwin was an Olympic rower who competed in the 1972 Munich Summer Games. He bought a Virgin Galactic ticket back in 2005 but feared after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014 that he’d be out of luck. He didn't let that stop him from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and cycling back down though.
According to "Virgin Galactic", this is their third successful flight for this year, which was launched through a runway from New Mexico.
Additionally, the cameras documented in a live broadcast on the company's page, the first enthusiastic moments when the countdown to the start of the trip began.
John Goodwin did not go, he was joined on the flight by a mother and daughter. The sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46 years old, is a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastasia Mayers, 18 years old, is a student at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen. They high-fived and pumped their fists as the spaceport crowd cheered their return.
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The flight came to fulfil the promise of the company's founder, British billionaire Richard Branson, two decades ago, by bringing tourists into space and experiencing the weightlessness it offers.
John Goodwin hopes to raise awareness about his disease and that his journey into space will shed light on it in hopes to find a cure for it.
He also stated that his trip to space was a dream come true and so miraculous that he did not believe it adding that it was the most exciting day of his life.
