World's Second Space Tourist Set to Blast Off

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 25, 2002

World's Second Space Tourist Set to Blast Off

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South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth, another rich adventure-seeker is headed to the international space station. He is part of a crew of cosmonauts due to lift off aboard a Russian rocket Thursday from Kazakhstan.

U.S. California businessman Dennis Tito was the world's first paying space tourist.

The 28-year-old Shuttleworth had a week of training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Like Tito, Shuttleworth is paying the Russian space program about $20 million for a Soyuz seat and an eight-day, seven-night space station cruise.

Under an agreement with NASA, Shuttleworth will use space station laptops for e-mail after he arrives Saturday and have limited use of U.S. communication systems to beam down video and photographs. He plans a variety of science experiments and, in fact, dislikes the tourist label.

Shuttleworth is not authorized to operate any other space station equipment. While not requiring an escort, he will be the responsibility of his commander aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket and the skipper of the space station, who is also Russian.

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