In a time when space tourism opportunities may be limited and terribly expensive, there is an opportunity around the corner for any one of us to travel beyond the borders of our planet. Bindass, the new entertainment channel is kicking off the ‘Bingo Bindass Go to Space’ contest, which as the name suggests, aims to send the winner to space.

Bindass which targets the youth, is all about being ‘fun, frank, fearless and free’. The channel’s target audience is between 15 to 34 years old and it believes that the contest is in tune with the youngsters.

Says Zarina Mehta, founder director and CEO of UTV, “Within a few years space tourism is going to be really big.

But as of now it is only for the elite. Through the contest we are giving just about anybody a chance to go into outer space. We have bought a ticket on a Rocketplane XP and we promise that the winner will be on it in December 2008. We have been in collaboration with Rocketplane Limited Inc and they have been very enthusiastic about this project.”

The selection process for the contest is going to be on a very large scale. The first step will be to answer a few questions which will appear on the channel through SMS and e-mail.

Once that happens you are registered and have to answer one more question. Following that, city auditions will be held with the first 600 to 1,000 entries in each city.

The contest will cover seven cities including Bangalore. And what does it take to get through the auditions? Says Zarina, “We are looking for someone who is ‘bindaas’! We want someone fun and fearless and we will be checking how ‘bindaas’ they are through a series of activities.

One winner will be chosen from each city and taken to Mumbai where we will have a reality show around them. But of course only one person will be the final winner!”

So, all you adrenalin junkies, space enthusiasts and die hard travellers get set for an opportunity of a lifetime. The contest details air on September 24 at 8 pm on Bindass.