You wouldn’t believe your skies – Buzz Aldrin launches competition to find Britain’s next top astronaut

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has launched a search to find one lucky person to be given the chance of a lifetime – and blast off into SPACE.

Aldrin is fronting a new competition which will see the winner secure a spot on the Lynx SXC space shuttle during its inaugural launch in 2014.

Entrants are being asked to create their own astronaut profile, declaring why they want to go to space.

The top candidates will then be treated to a weekend at the Lynx Space Academy, where they will be challenged by a number of physical and mental NASA-style challenges.

Four strongest competitors will then be flown to Orlando, Florida, to experience actual space simulations.

And only one lucky winner will secure a spot on the shuttle’s launch – and blast into the stratosphere.

Launching the contest, Buzz, the second man on the moon, said: “Space travel for everyone is the next frontier in the human experience.

“I’m thrilled that the young people of today are being given such an extraordinary opportunity to experience some of what I’ve encountered in space.”

The competition was launched as dozens of astronauts gathered at iconic London landmarks to promote the first time a pioneering new space shuttle will be put on display.

The spacemen gathered at Trafalgar Square, and also took a trip on the tube to Westfield White City shopping centre, where the giant Lynx SXC space shuttle will be on show on January 12 and 13.

Weighing in at a massive 1.5 tonnes and the width of three double decker buses, the shuttle will begin ferrying passengers into space next year.

The Lynx Space Academy is giving one lucky person a ride on the 22-seater shuttle, run by international space agency Space Expedition Corporation.

Lynx brand manager Mark Aschmann said: “The Lynx Apollo launch is the biggest and most ambitious in the Lynx brand’s history.

“For the first time, we’re simultaneously launching one global competition in over 75 countries offering millions of people the opportunity to win the most epic prize on earth.

“A trip to space – yes, actual space.”