IRVINE, CA — Volvo Cars of North America announced on February 3 that it will promote its V-8 version of the XC90 SUV with a contest giving away a trip into outer space, the company announced. A 30-second spot airing on last Sunday’s Super Bowl compared the XC90 V8 to a rocket blasting into space. At the commercial's end, the astronaut, Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson, removed his helmet and said the SUV is “powerful enough to take you into space.” Virgin Galactic is expected to offer its first commercial flight into space within the next three years aboard SpaceShipOne, Burt Rutan's Ansari X-Prize-winning suborbital spacecraft. The Super Bowl spot publicized boldlygo.com, where consumers can enter to win the trip into outer space. The winner will be named at the New York International Auto Show this March. The flight package also includes three days of pre-flight training and costs $200,000, Volvo says.