AN UXBRIDGE man who is afraid of flying is set to experience the feeling of going into space after winning the gold prize on The National Lottery game show 'This Time Tomorrow'.
Mark Phillips, 43, of Culvert Lane, Uxbridge, scooped up the mega-prize last Saturday night after competing in a quiz tournament against 10 other contestants.
He and his partner Mark Talbot are enjoying the holiday of a lifetime, flying to LA last Sunday to receive five star treatment in The Four Seasons Hotel before boarding a Zero G aircraft in Las Vegas.
This is the only possible way to experience zero gravity without going into space, and is the method that NASA has used to train its astronauts for the last 45 years, and also how actor Tom Hanks was shown to float in Apollo 13.
In shock of his success, Mark, who is a property developer, remained in utter disbelief.
He said: "We had a bottle of champagne afterwards but I still couldn't believe it, I didn't even know what time of day it was I was so confused!"
The show was broadcast on the BBC last Saturday and it can be viewed online on the BBC iPlayer.
His winning question was: "How many astronauts in total were involved in the first moon landing?'
The correct answer was three. While competing he did not know what the prize would be and was over the moon when the prize was finally unveiled
