Dr. Brian Hart, astrophysicist, SpaceShipOne inventor Burt Rutan, and Virgin Galactic team up in "Voyage to the Stars" book tour

Go where no person has gone before with Dan Linehan's new book, SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History.

LOS ANGELES, CA --- What do you get when you put an astrophysicist, former-engineer-cum-author, spaceship inventor, and travel company together and send them around the country?  The "Voyage to the Stars" book tour.  The tour starts this Wednesday, June 11, at 7 PM, at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers store in Palmdale, approx. 25 miles from where humanity's first private voyage to the stars began with the invention of SpaceShipOne by visionary Burt Rutan.

Remember the Ansari X Prize?  Amounting to $10 million, the prize money went to the first team to send a person successfully to the internationally-recognized boundary of outer space - 62 miles up - and return said person safely to the Earth --- twice.

Enter Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites, of Mojave, CA, who did just that in a groundbreaking voyage into the final frontier which will go down in the history books.  "It was truly inspiring," says Brian Hart, Ph.D. Physics graduate of the University of California, Irvine this year.  "To learn that humanity finally has embarked on the quest for the stars was awe-inspiring." 

Dr. Hart has his full measure of excitement this June and onward, when he hosts Dan Linehan, author of the new book, SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History, around the Southern California region and the country this coming Summer.  Says SpaceShipOne inventor, Burt Rutan, about the book: "I really like the book and I am of course, happy to have Linehan and Dr. Hart claim that I do indeed authorize and recommend the book."   Also joining Dr. Hart is co-host Michelle Evans of the Orange County Space Society.  "I am very excited about this tour and I look forward to the events," remarks Evans.

"One of the other aspects of this tour that excites me more is that I am proud to announce that representatives from Virgin Galactic Spacelines will be at every tour stop to answer questions and book space trips for interested attendees...really!" says Hart.  "We are starting in the Southern California area and also plan a big event in Las Vegas."

Dan Linehan, the author featured on the tour - wrote the new book SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History.   With a  foreword by renowned writer - the late Arthur C. Clarke -- this behind-the-scenes book chronicles the development of the world's first commercial manned space program--from design to deal-making to launch. 

In 2004, Dan Linehan attended the launch of SpaceShipOne when it captured the Ansari X Prize. A senior science editor for educational publishing companies, he has a background in physics and engineering and has written numerous articles about aviation and space. 

Brian Hart, Ph.D., at age 28 is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine.  Hart is originally from Fridley, Minnesota.  Dr. Hart obtained his undergraduate education from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  In his spare time, Hart is a professional classical soloist and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony when age 24.   Besides the book tour, Hart plans to become a military officer with his training.  "I have the greatest respect for the enlisted men and women who sacrifice for their country in its uniform, and since Sept. 11, it has been my privilege to train myself in Physics to then use it to coordinate America's use of its space-based warfighting assets in the War on Terror," Hart says.

"As an astrophysicist, I am thrilled to be in a position to open outer space to the public," notes Hart.  "I look forward to more exciting opportunities to work with Burt Rutan and Virgin Galactic.  I hope to one day develop new space travel technologies myself, so that the Galactic part of Virgin Galactic's name may truly mean something down the road."   

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