NETJETS EU VOLUME 15 2021

OWNER’S PROFILE
REACHING
FOR
THE STARS
With boundless energy and a savvy tactical
approach, John Shoffner is hoping to become one
of the fi rst private citizens on the International
Space Station – and to be productive while he’s
there // By Josh Sims
JOHN SHOFFNER CANNOT FLY an airship. “Gliders,
hang gliders, airplanes, seaplanes, warplanes and
jets,” says Shoffner, ticking off those craft he has
learned to pilot. “But somehow I missed airships.”
One might be tempted to nip in with
“spaceship” too, but Shoffner has that covered as
well. The businessman, racing driver and NetJets
regular has recently started training with private
space company Axiom Space with a view to
rocketing to the International Space Station (ISS)
on a SpaceX ship in the latter part of next year.
“I’ve always been interested in those activities
that involve calculated risk, that involve a
challenge you have to prepare for, that make
you feel uncomfortable, that have an element of
danger to them,” says Shoffner, who, driving for
his own champion J2-Racing team, once totalled
his new Porsche 911 on a corner at Germany’s
famed Nürburgring, fl ipping it over and over and
yet somehow coming out largely unscathed.
“That just showed me what you can go through
with good preparation and equipment. In fact,
when I woke up in hospital I was ready to race
again and did so the following week – though
not in that car,” he adds with a laugh. “When
[my wife and I] took up racing cars, neither of us
had even driven sports cars before. We stopped
skydiving because it was starting to get boring.
Put it this way: we’re not exactly golf fans.”
Unless, perhaps, it’s the kind played by
astronaut Alan Shepard on the moon. Then
Shoffner might be tempted. Indeed, getting
into space will be the fulfi llment of a lifetime’s
ambition, even if it’s a counterintuitive adventure
to go on, it might seem, for someone who’s
also fascinated by the idea of maxing out his
lifespan by keeping up with the latest science in
nutrition, sleep and lifestyle. He grew up through
the bold ambitions and amazing achievements
of the Space Race between the US and Soviet
Union, and always had a fascination for
equipment with plenty of lights and switches,
with rockets and the stars.
“I was sure I’d go into space some day – I
was just never sure how – so it’s been amazing
that the advent of private spacefl ight and the
gradual maturing of that market now allows
that to be possible,” says Shoffner, who made
his money building Dura-Line, a Kentuckybased
company that pioneered and patented
fi bre-optic cable installation technologies,
before retiring in 1996.
© AXIOM SPACE
28 NetJets