First off, allow me to preface the rather notable news that Volvo is announcing a contest to give away a seat on the Virgin Galactic spaceship during their Super Bowl commercial Sunday, by noting that Richard Branson is a dickleak.

I have nothing in particular against the guy and his record label was super cool, at least in the old days, but I am sick of this roguishly unkempt adventurer billionaire and his coyly named Virgin empire, and wish he and Trump would go in together on a reality show where they compete to see who can stay silent and out of sight the longest - call it Hide and Seek With 'You're Fired' and Dickleak.

So anyway, in the 30-second ad Volvo unveils its new Volvo XC90 V8 SUV by comparing its power to a rocket blasting into space. Near the commercial's end, the ship's pilot reveals himself as billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson — shit, not again — founder and chairman of The Virgin Group of Companies.

After the commercial airs Sunday, Volvo is giving away a chance to win a seat on Sir Richard's flight by asking aspiring astronauts to register at this site through Feb. 22. Starting Sunday, Volvo's Super Bowl advertisement can be seen there as well.

The winner will be announced March 24 at the New York International Auto Show. The value of a seat on the sub-orbital flight (what, no orbiting?), which also includes three days of pre-flight training, is $200,000.

"The best way to illustrate Virgin Galactic's mission for the safe, affordable exploration of space is to give one person a chance to win, rather than pay for, a seat on our spacecraft," said Sir Dick, who is donating the proceeds from his appearance in the ad to charity.

Virgin Galactic is the world's first commercial space tourism operator and is planning the debut commercial flight some time in the next two to three years. Over five years Virgin expects to train around 3,000 astronauts and will reinvest revenues generated from the flights into a new generation of vehicles for further space ventures.

The technology for Virgin Galactic's spacecraft will be modeled after the world's first privately funded, reusable space vehicle, SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 won the Ansari X Prize by becoming the first privately funded, manned suborbital space flight. Taking off from a traditional runway, the spacecraft is powered into sub-orbit by a hybrid engine. During the flight, passengers experience weightlessness, view the stars above and see planet Earth below

cause I'm a rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone - ground control to Major Tom

On its return to Earth, the spacecraft morphs into a V-shaped "shuttlecock," enabling it to gently drift back through the atmosphere without overheating. It then morphs back into a conventional aircraft shape ready for landing.

Special thanks to Rob Davis for the heads up.