NASA stands ready to train Bass for the October mission although the 23-year-old has not concluded his agreement with the Russians nor been formally approved by the other partners, according to NASA spokesman Kyle Herring. Herring said that Bass would be treated as a full-fledged member of the crew while he is at Johnson.
Sergei Gorbunov, another spokesman for Rosaviakosmo, said the Russian space agencys director general Yuri Koptev could still decide to eject Bass within the next week if no money comes through.
However, a Russian space industry source, who is close to the team of Russian negotiators, told Space News on Friday that the Russian negotiating team might be willing to wait another week or more before deciding whether to have Bass ejected from the crew. "We have time to wait and see as there is no other pressing option," the source said. Russia plans to use the Soyuzs third seat to launch a cargo container instead of Bass if the singer fails to honor the contract.
Gorbunov said Bass, who he said has so far failed to pay for his training at the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, would have to pay for his training at Houston "out of his own pocket." Without the one-week long simulator training at the Johnson center Bass would not be cleared for the flight to ISS, Gorbunov stressed in a telephone interview Friday.
Gorbunov would not say how much Bass would have to pay for the training in Houston or discuss how much Bass is required to pay for his space trip. Neither Rosaviakosmos, nor the Gagarin center, nor Rocket Space Corporation Energia, all of which are negotiating with Bass and his sponsors, would reveal financial details of the contract. Two previous space tourists reportedly paid about $20 million for their Soyuz flights, although knowledgeable sources insist the going rate is actually millions of dollars less.
MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber, reached in Amsterdam on his way back to the United States, said that to the best of his knowledge negotiations continued in Moscow Friday evening. He said final negotiations are taking place between Russian space officials and Celebrity Mission, the company created out of the various parties representing Bass and his space flight bid.
Celebrity Mission: Lance Bass is the proposed television show being put together by Destiny Productions, the Los Angeles-based television production company working to fund the Bass' mission.
Manber also said that Bass' training at JSC is not a formal part of the flight contract with the Russians but was arranged between Celebrity Mission and NASA. "[The Russians] are taking him along as a crew member, but [the training agreement] had to be [worked out] between Celebrity Mission and NASA."
According to Manber, the Russians told Bass at the beginning that the Johnson-based training regimen would not be required if he had no plans to spend time on the U.S. side of the station. But Bass financial backers, other sources said, want the pop singer to be able to visit the U.S. modules during the flight.
Whatever the case may be, NASA made clear on Friday that its ready to show Bass what he needs to know to visit the U.S. side without jeopardizing the safety of his crewmates or the station itself.
"Whether he flies or not, the Russians have nominated him for the Oct. 28 seat and he should be trained appropriately," Herring said.
Herring said once Bass is at Johnson Space Center, he will be treated as a member of the Soyuz taxi crew.
"He will be training along with the taxi crew," NASA's Herring said Friday. "There are some separate items on his schedule that the other two may not participate in, but that's normal."
For example, NASA plans to instruct Bass on the basics of HAM radio operations. Since his two would-be crewmates are both experienced spacefarers, it's likely that they are already well-versed in radio operation.
Herring said NASA is training Bass at Johnson Space Center because there is a chance he could be visiting the space station, not because of any specific deals between Celebrity Mission and NASA.
NASA has been meeting with Celebrity Mission in recent months, Herring said. However, those meetings related primarily to media coverage of Bass' Houston training and things Celebrity Mission would like Bass to know how to do should he visit the space station.
Part of those discussions centered on reconciling Celebrity Mission's desire to retain the media rights to all aspects of Bass' space adventure and NASA's obligations to the media and the public.
"We have been discussing a number of things with them from a government public affairs standpoint, about what our obligations are to the media and the public," Herring said. "There have been some clarifications ... about what they want for their commercial contracts and what we need to do. There has been some very professional give and take. We have had a very good working relationship with them over the past couple of months to get to this point."
NASA provides training for its partners' crewmembers at Johnson Space Center as part its contribution to the space station program and does not receive monetary compensation. Herring said that to his knowledge NASA has not requested payment from Celebrity Mission or Bass himself for next week's training regimen.
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