At 67, billionaire Richard Branson is preparing to go to space.
In October, the serial entrepreneur who owns the commercial space flight company Virgin Galactic said he expects to be in space by April. "I would be very disappointed if I haven't been into space within six months or so," Branson told CNBC.
And in preparation, Branson is getting fit.
"I'm determined to get really fit so I'm ready for when we get the all-clear to go into space, so I've spent the last few days hiking up the Atlas Mountains and it's truly magical," says Branson in a blog post on Tuesday.
Getting fit by hiking up the Atlas Mountains in preparation to go into space
Branson published the blog post from Morocco at his property called Kasbah Tamadot, where he was spending a few days. His homebase in Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September.
"I have spent a lot of time travelling around with my family recently as we wait for our home in the BVI to be rebuilt after the hurricane devastated the region," he says.
Why Kasbah Tamadot holds such a special place in my heart
Branson generally keeps active, exercising first thing every morning.
"I like to wake up early; usually around 5am. I get out of bed and do some exercise — play a game of tennis, go for a walk or a run, jump on my bike, or if there's enough wind, go for a kitesurf," he says in a post published in April. He says excercise boosts his productivity.
But preparing to go to space is a different ballgame.
Once in space, the muscles atrophy quickly because of the lack of gravity. Astronauts on the International Space Station spend two and a half hours per day working out to combat atrophy, according to NASA.
