Loretta and her husband George are ‘Founder Astronauts’ with tickets for a sub-orbital spaceflight on Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship ‘Unity.’ Trained as an astrobiologist at Stanford and Caltech, Loretta has been to the Canadian Arctic to study plant life in extreme environments and to the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean with “Titanic” director James Cameron to film a 3D IMAX documentary, “Aliens of the Deep.” She is the Co-creator of Yuri’s Night, The World Space Party, celebrated annually all around the planet on or around April 12. Loretta has over five hours of time spent floating weightless (in 30 second chunks) on a 727 aircraft as a Flight Director for Zero-G Corporation. She is also the author of a new book for people who want to bring out the best in themselves called, “The New Right Stuff.” Loretta’s passion is creating the culture of the Sci-Fi future to go along with the warp drives.

Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides