Santhosh George Kulangara

Infobox Person
name = Santhosh George Kulangara


caption = First Indian Space Tourist
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|12|25
birth_place = Marangattupally
spouse = Soncy
children = Sarika, George
other_names =
known_for = First space tourist from India, Producer and Director of Sancharam, Cinematographer and travel writer.
occupation = Managing Director,
Labour India Groups of companies

Santhosh George Kulangara, (born December 25, 1971) is the first Indian space tourist and has been confirmed along with 37 others for space-tour operator Virgin Galactic’s 2009 spaceflight. [cite web |url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/sci-tech/03_2007/1st-indian-space-tourist-ready-to-fly-36104.html |title=India’s 1^st space tourist |publisher=CNN-IBN] [cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/16/stories/2007031614720400.htm |title=Santosh George to become first Indian space tourist |publisher=The Hindu, Online edition] [cite web |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=735fe9c3-5045-4aa1-a053-2bca1204e984&&Headline=India%e2%80%99s+first+space+tourist+ready+to+fly |title=India’s first space tourist ready to fly |publisher=Hindustan Times]

Background

Santhosh George Kulangara was born in Marangattupally village, Kottayam District in Kerala, India. [cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/25741.html |title=Kottayam publisher all set for space odyssey |publisher=The Indian Express] He is a post graduate and a trained cinematographerFact|date=August 2008. He is married to Soncy and has two children - Sarika and George. He is the son of V.J. George Kulangara, the founder of Labour India Publications Ltd.

He is also a businessman in the area of education, tourism and Information Technology. He is the owner and Managing Director of Labour India groups of companies, co-founder of Labour India Gurukulam Public School, International Gurukulam School in Wagamon and Bluefield International Academy, West Virginia in the US. [cite web |url=http://news.oneindia.in/2007/03/16/santosh-george-the-1st-indian-space-tourist.html |title=Santosh George, the 1st Indian space tourist |publisher=OneIndia News] He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Supplement Communications, an evening newspaper, and Labour India Software Laboratories.

He has traveled through more than 55 countries and his travelogue "Sancharam" is currently being telecast in Asianet channel on Sundays at 10:30 am. It is the first telecast of a visual travelogue in Malayalam television to enter the Limca Book of Records [cite web |url=http://www.limcabookofrecords.in/record_gallery.asp?sid=2626&catname=Television |title=First telecast of a visual travelogue in Malayalam |publisher=Limca Book of Records] . The show will eventually include his visit to space as the Virgin Galactic officials have agreed to let him shoot the whole journey. [cite web |url=http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14409839 |title=First Indian space tourist gearing to take off |publisher=Sify news] [cite web |url=http://www.tuning.co.in/sancharam-to-space/ |title=Sancharam to space |publisher=FineTuning the World] He is the producer of the Malayalam television-programs "Samayam", "Acharya" (a documentary about Wagamon), "Maluvinte Lokam", "Chithirapurathe Visheshangal", and "Kerala Vishesham" which were produced for Doordarshan. He also directed the documentary "Krishnagatha". [cite web |url=http://www.santhoshgeorge.com/globtoter.php |title=Thus did I become a world traveller |publisher=Self]

He has published two books on his travels and two more are in the processing stageFact|date=August 2008. The published books are "Oru Rabbiyude Chumbanangal" (Kisses of a rabbi), which talks about his extensive journeys on buses and ships through Eastern Europe, and "Nataashayude Varna Baloonukal", which is about interesting sights and memorable experiences of his travels through Europe. He is also writing a book about his upcoming space voyage. [cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070315/asp/frontpage/story_7519596.asp |title=Indian for space tour-Keralite books seat on Virgin Galactic voyage |publisher=The Telegraph] [cite web |url=http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=March2007&file=World_News200703168464.xml |title=Kerala TV channels go after astronaut-to-be |publisher=The Peninsula Qatar]

Space flight

He is the first resident Indian to buy a US$ 200,000 ticket for a sub-orbital ride with British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceliner. [cite web |url=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=4&id=202930&usrsess=1 |title=And now, Indian |publisher=The Statesman] [cite web |url=http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=138194&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22 |title=Keralite to be India’s first space tourist |publisher=Gulf Times] The space flight is designed to last two and a half hours in space, during which the spaceship will detach from the mother ship at convert|50000|ft|m|abbr=on, the cruising altitude of the Concorde aircraft. To prepare for the trip he successfully completed medical tests, zero gravity training at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and three-day pre-flight preparation, bonding and training at the Mojave desert spaceport in California. [cite web |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Aug62007/national2007080617489.asp?section=updatenews |title=Zero gravity training for country's first space tourist |publisher=Deccan Herald] [cite web |url=http://content.msn.co.in/News/National/NationalIANS_080807_0830.htm |title=India's first space tourist leaves for zero gravity flight |publisher=MSN India] A specially designed aircraft was used for the training program. [cite web |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Virgin_Galactic_woos_Indian_space_tourists/articleshow/2456582.cms |title=Virgin Galactic woos Indian space tourists |publisher=The Economic Times] In January 2008, Virgin Galactic unveiled a model of SpaceShipTwo, for carrying tourists into space and said that construction of the actual flight should be completed in 2008 and is expected to take-off in 2009. In July 2008, he completed the second part of training for space tourists at NASA. He took part in the training at the National Aerospace Training and Research centre at Southampton in Pennsylvania. He also attended the launch ceremony of the space vehicle White Knight Two at Mojave spaceport in California. [cite web |url=http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1585814 |title=Kerala space tourist leaves for second part of the training |publisher=MSN India] [cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/26/stories/2008072661260400.htm |title=Space tourist leaves for NASA training |publisher=The Hindu]

Awards

He won the 2002 "Kamal Patra" award for young businessmen. He was also awarded "Yuva Prathiba Award" (2004), All India "RAPA" Award (2003) and "Vivekananda" award for his contributions to the tourism and education sector. [cite web |url=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20071026015628&Page=R&Headline=Vivekananda+Awards+presented&Title=Kerala&Topic=0 |title=Vivekananda Awards presented |publisher=The New Indian Express] [cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/29/stories/2007092953480300.htm |title=Selected for award |publisher=The Hindu, Online edition] He met with former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who gave him a few tips for his journey. Santhosh George was advised by President to ensure that he make the experiences of his trip informative to children. [cite web |url=http://www.freshnews.in/indias-would-be-space-tourist-gets-tips-from-kalam-3-6212 |title=India’s would-be space tourist gets tips from Kalam |publisher=Fresh News] [cite web |url=http://article.wn.com/view/2007/05/05/Space_tourist_gets_tips_from_president/ |title=Space tourist gets tips from president |publisher=World News]

References

External Links

* [http://santhoshgeorge.com/ Official Website of Santhosh George Kulangara]
* [http://www.sancharam.com/ Sancharam Travel Videos by Santhosh George Kulangara]
* [http://www.labourindia.com/ Labour India Educational Research Center]
* [http://www.gurukulam.com/ Gurukulam Public Schools]