Principal Prepares For Blast Off

LATEST: Former DALLAS star Victoria Principal has laughed off reports she isn't fit enough to become the first female passenger on SIR Richard Branson's commercial space flights, insisting she's in complete control of her blood disorder.

The actress-turned-cosmetics tycoon was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, which causes blood clots to form last year (04), but now she insists not only is she feeling healthy, she's the perfect choice for blast off in 2008.

She says, "I'm up, I'm well and I can do anything I want, which is obvious since I'm going up into space.

"I love doing things like this. I trained with a paraglider in the 1990s and I jumped off the third highest mountain in Switzerland. I went down an American bobsled run at gold medal speed, I have a Formula Ford license, I race cars and I tried to learn how to fly but apparently I'm not a very good pilot."

But Principal does have one concern: "I think, first and foremost, what do I wear?"

The 59-year-old star has paid $207,000 (GBP115,000) to fly 112 kilometres (70 miles) above the earth.