First things first. The edge of space is scientifically defined as the Kármán line, lying at an altitude of 328,000 feet (100km) above the Earth's surface, and is commonly used to define the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The two Saudi nationals hit 55,000 feet (roughly 17km). So are Mohammed Al Najjar and Ibrahim Alfadli considered astronauts? Technically not, for the United States only considers those that fly 80km above sea level worthy of the astronomical title. Therefore given this context, Al Najjar and Alfadli bordered the stratosphere which by any account is a rather diluted definition of Space.
Whatever the case, the atypical mission was hosted by American Express (Saudi Arabia) Limited as part of their ‘Edge of Space’ campaign for new generation Blue Card holders in the Kingdom. They decided to take their users to a whole new level and what a level it was. From the top fighter jet school in the world, Thunder City, in Cape Town, two English Lighting military jets catapulted into the sky at a speed one and a half times that of sound.
Initially, the aircrafts flew vertically skywards but after reaching heights a jet liner could only dream of attaining they came to cruise the borderline of the stratosphere, where the picturesque, spherical view of the Earth can be seen.
Thunder City, South Africa’s military flight school trains pilots from across the globe using real-life jets. Having the world’s largest privately-owned collection of combat aircraft, their range of flights also include missions to the stratosphere’s brink and back, all in a matter of ninety minutes.
Al Najjar and Alfadli were lucky enough to have won the competition in which all they had to do was spend using their Amex Blue cards. Simply by using the new Blue card, all KSA users were automatically entered into the draw, whose top prizes were a trip to space for two, and another package where three winners were rewarded a fully paid week-long vacation to South Africa.
Of course other companies such as Virgin, with the recently introduced commercial space arm Virgin Galactic, are hoping to launch flights even further into to Space which will be effective in late 2009 (Bespoke, Vol.I, issue 3).
Life can either be an extraordinary adventure, as it proved to be with Al Najjar and Alfadli, or in blatant terms, really nothing to talk about. Of course, prior to their space journey, necessary preparations to handle supersonic flight conditions were learned.
In addition to being raised to measurable heights, they got to experience the weightlessness of the Earth’s orbit, and simply float around for a while.
Amex’s team in Saudi Arabia sees this campaign as a necessary move, as consumers lifestyles are rapidly changing – they had to come up with a ways to award tangible assets, and they had to do so fast. And there are very few things faster than an English Lighting military jet!
“Winning this trip has surpassed all my expectations… and provided me with a chance to raise the Saudi flag at fifty five thousand feet,” exclaims Al Najjar.
If all they had to do was use their card, we hope many other Bespoke readers will be rewarded soon.
www.americanexpress.com.sa
