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Cargo to Replace Lance Bass if Fund Don't Come Through for ISS Trip
By Brian Berger
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 12:26 pm ET
22 August 2002
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WASHINGTON -- Sergei Zaletin, the Russian commander of the Soyuz capsule bound for the international space station in November, has a reservation on a Saturday morning flight out of Moscow to Houston, Tex WASHINGTON -- Sergei Zaletin, the Russian commander of the Soyuz capsule bound for the International Space Station in November, has a reservation on a Saturday morning flight out of Moscow to Houston, Tex. The veteran cosmonaut, along with Belgian astronaut Frank DeWinne, are both expected at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Monday for a week of training on the U.S. systems they will encounter on their mission to deliver a fresh Soyuz to the station. Whether Lance Bass will be joining Zaletin on that Saturday morning Lufthansa flight had still not been decided by Thursday evening in Moscow. On Monday, the Russian Space Agency gave Bass until Friday to come up with payment for the trip. "We're still in discussions with our colleagues in Russia and feeling very positive," said MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber reached by phone in Amsterdam. "It's coming down to the wire and we've still got to dot the i's and cross the t's." The Amsterdam-based MirCorp is helping broker the deal with the Russian Space Agency. MirCorp is working with Destiny Productions, the Los Angeles-based company intent on turning Bass' trip into a television series. Manber wouldn't go into specifics concerning the last minute deal making but a source closely following the Bass bid said the pop star and his negotiators have been given until 3:00 PM Friday Moscow time to come up with cash. Manber confirmed a Russian media report that said a cargo container, not Bass, will fly to the station come November if the pop singer and his negotiators cannot come up with the cash in a hurry. "If we don't solve the contract issues in the next couple days, Lance will not fly and a cargo container will fly instead," he said. "That's the plan."
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