New NBC Reality Series Will Send Winner Into Space
Posted on October 5, 2013
NBC has announced a new elimination competition reality series called Space Race. The winner of the series will take a trip into space on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. NBC partnered with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic for the show. The contestants will compete for the trip into space. Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice) is the executive producer of the upcoming show.
Deadline notes that Burnett was behind two failed space reality series that never aired: Destination: Mir and Destination: Space. These failed reality projects both involved the Russian space program.
Burnett said in a statement, "For the past ten years I have relentlessly pursued my dream of using a TV show to give an everyday person the chance to experience the black sky of space and look down upon mother Earth. Last year I spent time in New Mexico at the state of the art facility and last week spent time in the Mojave desert with Sir Richard and his impressive team. We got to see the spaceship up close and hear of Sir Richard's incredible vision of how Virgin Galactic is the future of private space travel. I am thrilled to be part of a series that will give the everyday person a chance to see space and that NBC has come on board too so that viewers at home will have a first class seat."
Paul Telegdy, President of Alternative and Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment, said in a statement, "The scope of this endeavor is so staggering, that it took these two titans to even imagine it. The term 'trip of a lifetime' has for once been delivered on! This will be a remarkable experience for anyone who has looked at the night's sky and dared to dream of Space Flight."