Queen Mary 2’s Space Week cruise features NASA astronaut, virtual star tours

Cunard has planned a cosmic cruise next year aboard the Queen Mary 2 in honor of 2017’s World Space Week.

Passengers on the ship’s eastbound crossing of the Atlantic won’t leave the atmosphere, but they will be treated to a roster of guest scientists and an on-board planetarium with a dome featuring virtual trips to the stars. Of course, there’s always stargazing off the top deck too.

NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, a veteran of five space flights and now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Charles Barclay of Britain’s Royal Astronomical Society; NASA historian Ken MacTaggart; and Stephen Attenborough of space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic will sail on the cruise.

The seven-night transatlantic crossing sails from New York City to Southampton, England.

Dates: Oct. 6 to 13, 2017

Price: From $1,200 per person, plus port fees and taxes, based on double occupancy. Includes meals, guest lectures and events, and virtual journeys in the ship’s Planetarium. Airfares to and from cruise’s start and finish are extra.

Info: Cunard Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing and World Space Week, (800) 728-6273 or contact a travel agent

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