Russian space chief Yuri Koptev said Wednesday that an open seat still is available on the Soyuz scheduled for launch later this year. The Soyuz spacecraft are used as emergency lifeboats for the permanent three-member expedition crews that reside on the station and must be replaced every six months with a fresh ship.

"We are looking for candidates," Koptev said. There are people who are interested. There are not many of them, but there are some."

Koptev confirmed Russian media reports that a Polish citizen was being considered but would not offer any additional details.

"We cannot give information about any candidates due to confidentiality and will make an official statement only after the appropriate documents have been signed, in particular, the flight contract," Koptev said.

Before Bass, 23, would be allowed to fly and become the youngest person launched into space, Destiny Productions would first have to come up with the estimated $20 million fare.

Bass also would have to pass all medical tests and complete the required training in Russian systems -- a task that requires living several months at Star City near Moscow. A week-long stay in Houston to train at the Johnson Space Center also would be required.

NSYNC is scheduled to appear Sunday at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics and embark later this year on a concert tour.

If Bass is able to complete all the necessary requirements, he would join the small fraternity of space tourists that already includes U.S. businessman Dennis Tito and South African Internet guru Mark Shuttleworth.

Tito flew to the space station in April 2001. Shuttleworth is scheduled to fly to the outpost this April.

An official at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. said the agency has yet to be contacted by either the Russian Aviation and Space Agency or MirCorp about the possibility of Bass flying to the station.

At the same time, the official said NASA would not oppose the flight as long as the 16-nation partnership agreed with the plan. In addition, Bass would have to meet all training, medical, and other criteria recently agreed to by the partnership.

"There's a crew criteria the partnership has agreed upon (and) as long as that criteria is respected and the international partnership is notified of crew assignment then the agency has no problem with whomever the Russian space agency enters into contract with," said NASA Headquarters news media chief Bob Jacobs.

The round trip would become one of the biggest media events of the year with reporters, photos and camera crews from around the world vying to cover the flight.

The media crowd, in fact, probably could swell to the size of the troop -- about 3,000 strong -- that followed the 1998 return to space of former Mercury astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn aboard shuttle Discovery.

While the launch itself would take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Jacobs said the agency and its international partners would deal with the throng if doing so in fact becomes necessary.

"The agency and other international partners have already discussed their concerns about turning spaceflight into a carnival ride for the rich. So we'll address the issue when the Russian space agency follows the procedures for notifying the partnership of its intention to fly crew members," Jacobs said.

"We're not interested in engaging in a public P.R. discussion over who MirCorp should or shouldn't fly," he said.

"MirCorp has fought for the past several years to open the exploration of space to all. We believe firmly that the excitement and beauty of this frontier should not be limited to a handful of professionals," MirCorp said in its prepared statement.

Both MirCorp and Arlington, Va.-based Space Adventures are marketing seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

And while both companies can claim some responsibility for Tito's flight, Space Adventures alone is responsible for Shuttleworth's planned trip in April.

Space Adventures also has plans to put someone in the empty Soyuz seat later this year, but the company isn't ready to make an announcement, said company president Eric Anderson.

"We have a number of candidates we're speaking to about many future flights," Anderson said. "Some of those, at least one, are very high profile."

Anderson said that who flies this Fall isn't a simple matter of "first come, first served."

"All of the important parts of any negotiation -- the terms of the flight, the price, the training -- these are all huge issues. The Russians will select the candidate that best fits their needs."

For example, someone willing to pay a higher price might go ahead of someone else. Or someone who speaks fluent Russian might get the nod before someone who cannot.