Elk Grove Village man who paid $175K gives up dream of going to space

Shefket Chapadjiev watched a beaming Richard Branson and his fellow space tourists floating 53 miles above Earth last year on a spaceflight years in the making.

But for the 84-year-old Elk Grove Village man, his own dream of spaceflight has felt like a distant, dying star.

Chapadjiev, who paid $175,000 15 years ago for a ticket on Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceship, finally got tired of waiting and asked for a refund. After having previously been urged to keep waiting just a little longer, this time he got it.

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