Kreydenko claimed it is "improbable" that Rosaviakosmos would allow Bass to resume training and fly even if he makes the payment in the next few days. However, the official refused to say whether agency director Yuri Koptev had already officially terminated the contract with Bass. The singer had signed the contract with Rosaviakosmos and Rocket Space Corporation Energia in July and he was required to transfer the first payment within five banking days of it being signed.
The reason that Rosaviakosmos would not comment on whether the contract has been terminated is that Bass still has a "chance" to fly to ISS, an Energia official said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said Energia's top managers have been patient with Bass because they realize that "raising money from sponsors could be a complicated business. "
However, the official warned, Energia's patience will also run out and Bass would be ejected from the three-strong visiting crew if he has not paid by the end of this week. Neither side would reveal financial details of the contract, although Bass' representatives did reveal that they have lined up three sponsors, including one major soft drink company.
A senior official at Amsterdam-based MirCorp, which helps to organize Bass' training, also said Tuesday that Bass remains in the crew. Moreover, MirCorp, which was set up by Energia to draw foreign investments into Russia's manned space exploration program, is confident that Bass will eventually fly to ISS, the company's managing director Gert Meyers said in a phone interview from Amsterdam.
Meyers said he has strong hopes that negotiators, representing Rosaviakosmos, Energia and Bass, will "reach a solution" on Wednesday. He said Bass himself is confident that "he can pull it off."
Jeff Manber, president of MirCorp, continued to express optimism Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press.
"It is a little dramatic to say he was kicked out," said Manber, who told the news organization that he was headed into another meeting with Russian space officials to discuss the payment details.
"He was training at Star City yesterday. He is not training today, but he will be back there probably tomorrow or the day after."
Bass was told Tuesday to pack and leave the premises of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in the Star City, according to Kreydenko. Bass, who underwent training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston last week before returning to Russia, remained in the country as of Tuesday evening, a Star City official said in a phone interview.
The official, who asked not to be named, said his center "has ended all relations" with Bass and claimed that he should have not come back to Star City from Houston as he had failed to pay.
Both this official and Kreydenko complained that Rosaviakosmos and the Gagarin center have had to fund training of Bass out of their own budget. However, neither would reveal whether their organizations plan to sue Bass for the cash, which they have spent to train the U.S. pop star as well as to manufacture a spacesuit and a seat for him in the Soyuz-TMA space capsule.
Rosaviakosmos and Energia have previously granted several payment deadline extensions to Bass. Each extension was accompanied with grave warnings from Rosaviakosmos officials that Bass would be ejected from the Soyuz crew, which is to set to launch Oct. 28, if he didn't pay within the next few days.
A Russian space industry source, who is close to the team of Russian negotiators, said in a recent interview that the Russian negotiating team might be willing to wait 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 referring to the fact that Rosaviakosmos has no one else prepared to fly in the third seat.
The Bass situation has taught Rosaviakosmos that it is better to deal with those who pay for their trips out of their own pocket, as South African Mark Shuttleworth and American Dennis Tito did in April of 2002 and in April of 2001 respectively, according to Kreydenko.
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