A 28-year-old South African internet tycoon looks set to become the second ever space tourist after three out of five Russian Space and Aviation Agency departments have approved his mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in April 2002.
In a separate agreement, the Russian Space and Aviation Agency has reportedly agreed to fly two US television game show winners on Soyuz missions to the ISS in 2003.
The three departments have signed an agreement that would allow South African Mark Shuttleworth to visit the ISS, according to a spokesman for Shuttleworth. The other two are expected to sign within a week, he says.
“Today Mark had his space suit fitted,” he told New Scientist. “[The others’ agreement] is just a formality now.”
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The other four ISS partners – NASA, Japan, Canada and ESA (European Space Agency) – would still have to agree to his trip.
International agreement
NASA initially objected when its Russian counterpart agreed to take 60-year-old Californian businessman Dennis Tito to the ISS in April 2001. NASA was concerned that a non-professional astronaut could cause damage to the station and endanger the crew.
But the US space agency has since warmed to the idea of commercial space flight and is developing a set of criteria with ISS partners that would allow civilians to visit the space station.
These have not yet been finalised, however, and a NASA spokesperson warns: “Anybody who flies will need to meet those criteria.” Shuttleworth has been in training with the Russian Space Agency for a number of months and plans to carry a number of scientific experiments to the ISS.
Game show astronaut
MirCorp, the company that originally planned to put tourists on the now destroyed Russian space station Mir, says it has signed a second space tourist agreement with the Russian space agency.
US television production company Image World Media plans to organise a game show called Ancient Astronauts. The final stage of the planned competition will involve cosmonaut training at the Russian Space and Aviation Agency’s headquarters near Moscow.
Two seats have been reserved aboard different Soyuz spacecraft for the winners, according to MirCorp. But the other ISS partners have not yet agreed to their presence on the ISS.
