Among the plethora of students who attend Southern Oregon University is a man whose lifelong long dream has been traveling to space.
He’s a lot closer to making his dream a reality than most others who stare up at the stars though.
Earlier this year, Reid Isbell, a physics major at SOU, entered the Apollo Space Academy Contest sponsored by the male grooming product company Axe.
The Apollo contest is a worldwide competition that will select one person from each participating country to go to the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Fla.
From the Kennedy Space Center, the finalists from around the world will compete in astronaut training to eventually select two people who are most fit to go into space.
The winner will be selected based on the number of votes they attain from the Apollo contest website; www2.AxeApollo.com. Votes can be submitted via the leaderboard which can be found on the top right corner of the main page.
“I feel like I was put on this Earth to leave it,” says Isbell, reflecting on his goal of achieving extra-terrestrial travel.
When Isbell first entered the contest, he was in the 3,000th place-range. A few short months later he’s now ranking 136th, with a total of 146 votes.
Although he still is not quite in the lead, he has made leaps and bounds as people choose him as the most plausible candidate for an astronaut.
“Some people were caught cheating in the competition, with that in mind I may be closer than I think to realizing my dream,” said Isbell.
Even though he may not win the competition, Isbell remain optimistic that he would make it to space.
“One way or another I’ll get there!” he said, referring to his academic major.
The people who were indicted for cheating were utilizing multiple Facebook accounts, or registering as residents from multiple countries to better their odds at success.
This was considered fraud to the administration of the competition, and those who were caught gaming the system were removed.
The voter fraud has decreased the accuracy of the participants’ scores, affirming Isbell’s belief that victory is within his grasp.
According to the official rules for the competition, the deadline for the competition is April 27, and Isbell needs all the support he can get. Click here to view Isbell’s profile and help make him the first SOU Raider in space.
