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There will be some up-close and personal stargazing in Doug Ramsburg’s future, but there will be a couple of years and some intense preparation leading up to it. Ramsburg, a transfer credit evaluator at the Office of Admissions, won a three-hour flight into the Earth’s atmosphere as part of a Volvo XC90 promotion advertised during Super Bowl XXXIX. His name was chosen by computer from more than 135,000 entrants.

“It’s hard to believe I was picked out of all those people,” Ramsburg said. “I received a phone call here at work about two and a half weeks ago. I was just sitting here working away when the call came . . . then I just sat here stunned.”

Ramsburg was sworn to secrecy by the awards department. “I couldn’t tell anyone what I had won. I had to keep this bottled inside of me for two weeks,” he said. All he was allowed to reveal to coworkers and family was that he had won a sweepstakes and would need a little time off to go to New York to announce the prize. “I’m also purchasing a house this month, too. With all this activity going on and not being able to say anything, I felt like I was just going to explode.”

The trip is valued at $200,000, but previous civilian astronauts have paid $20 million for a ride into space. The voyage, to be the first by Virgin Galactic in what it hopes will be a saleable tourist enterprise, will take place in the next two or three years.

Weeks before he can take flight, Ramsburg, 41, will be given a physical and will become acclimated to weightlessness and some G-force (think of James Bond in Moonraker). “It’s not going to be extreme training,” he explained. “The craft is intended to be designed in a way that common people can go – you don’t have to be an astronaut. But I will take it upon myself to do some training in advance of that.”

Ramsburg’s family and coworkers are excited about his upcoming adventure. “I’m the one with a little bit of apprehension: I’m going into the unknown,” he admitted. “But as I’ve gone further and further into this process, the comfort level has grown.”