Bob 'f***ing and blinding' his way into outer space

Bob Geldof

Niamh Horan

It's only days after Bob Geldof was cut mid-interview for swearing during an appearance on Sky News - and now it appears the singer and charity campaigner's language is too colourful even for space.

The Sunday Independent has learned the rock star and humanitarian has also been f***ing and blinding his way through flight simulation practice in the dry-runs before his launch into space.

Michiel Mol, co-founder of XCOR, which will orchestrate the flight, said the test runs - just days ahead of the launch - have given the project's scientists something to smile about.

He told the Sunday Independent: "Some participants of our training missions start screaming out of pure excitement during their multiple-G flight. Some start laughing, even some go completely silent during the manoeuvres. But not Sir Bob; he just kept on calling the pilot, I quote, a 'mad f***er". I'm sure he meant it in a cordial way."

The team have had to bleep out Geldof's audible excitement as the simulator kicks into gear while he prepares for the rocket's flight conditions. "He uses the F-word quite a lot, and we had to bleep it out of all the footage [but] it was great fun to work with him," Mol added.

"It's striking how much Bob knows about physics, mechanics and aerospace history. I could tell that what we are doing is a big passion of his."

Geldof will ride on XCOR Aerospace's Lynx rocket plane from Dutch-based Space Exploration Corp once the shuttle completes 60 to 70 test flights.

This two-seat, piloted space transport vehicle will take humans and payloads on a half-hour suborbital flight to 100km and then return safely to the take-off runway. It is a horizontal takeoff and landing vehicle, which uses its own fully reusable rocket propulsion to leave and return to earth.

Speaking about why Geldof is perfect for the project, Mol, who gave developer Harry Crosbie and his wife Rita a replica of the rocket after eating at their H Bar restaurant, said: "Our mission is to offer excitement to people on one hand, but at the same time work on something really meaningful by developing a new, more sustainable way of transportation. Band Aid showed that Bob is a master in connecting excitement and meaningfulness. People having fun co-financing something that, in the long run, will positively change the lives of many. That's the idea."

Explaining his motivation behind the mission, he added: "I have wondered all of my life what it would be like to see Earth from space. This urge grew over the years till I came [to] a point I met some people that could actually offer me the opportunity to become a member of this great venture. So to a certain extent, I'm helping to build this spaceship while feeding my own curiosity.

"The second reason is the meaningfulness of the project. Finding a way for transportation through air to become sustainable in the future is so important. The technology is there and so is the will. The only thing we need now is perseverance and I have a lot of that to offer."