US space tourist set for blast-off
Third private individual to visit ISS
Posted in Science, 30th March 2004 11:23 GMT
See what The Register's experts have to say on application security
US millionaire Gregory Olsen has booked himself a quick trip to the International Space Station in April 2005.
Olsen, 58, is paying $20m for the eight-day jaunt, which is organised by extra-terrestrial package holiday specialist Space Adventures.
The intrepid native of Brooklyn will not, however, simply spend his time writing postcards and taking pictures out of the window on a disposable camera - his mission has real scientific purpose.
Olsen intends to carry out experiments on behalf of his own Sensors Unlimited: some involving infrared cameras and others concerning crystal growth. As Olsen explained to space.com: "This is primarily a science mission, though I’ll get a pleasure doing it."
The would-be astronaut leaves the US today en route to training at Russia's Star City. "We'll do our zero-gravity flights and lots of procedures on what to do both the Souyez and the International Space Station - we’ll have complete mock ups of everything in Star City," he said.
Assuming everything goes to plan, Olsen will join a very select list of private individuals who have enjoyed the ISS experience - Dennis Tito in 2001, and Mark Shuttleworth in 2002.
Meanwhile, those of us who - for fiscal reasons - remain firmly earthbound, can follow the mission's progress here. ®
Related stories
See what The Register's experts have to say on application security


The future of SaaS and IT infrastructure management
The Total Economic Impact of Dell's PC products and services
The best practices guide for application security
Reducing messaging and web security costs with managed services

Win a Samsung C6625!
Is your cameraphone an oxymoron?
Reg Mobile and Wireless newsletter is go! go! go!
Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter