SPACE.com -- Radio Shack Sponsoring Lance Bass Moscow Trip

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	Radio Shack Sponsoring Lance Bass Moscow Trip By Brian Berger Space News Staff Writer posted: 11:30 pm ET 21 March 2002

WASHINGTON -- Lance Bass of the pop group *NSYNC is heading to Moscow to begin medical screening required of all would-be cosmonauts and space tourists

WASHINGTON -- Lance Bass of the pop group *NSYNC is heading to Moscow to begin medical screening required of all would-be cosmonauts and space tourists.

The 22-year-old pop singer's trip to the Star City cosmonaut training center is being paid for by RadioShack Corp., the Fort Worth, Tex.-based electronics retailer that last year filmed a television commercial aboard the international space station.

Jim McDonald, RadioShack senior vice president for marketing advertising, said sponsoring Bass's trip is seen by the company as a very cost-effective way to continue some of the space-themed promotions it has done.

Investing in space is a logical fit for RadioShack, he said, since wireless phones and satellite dishes -- two products it sells more of than any other U.S. retailers -- both owe their existence to the space program.

Before Bass can be considered a qualified candidate for an upcoming Soyuz capsule flight to the international space station (ISS), he must pass his medical certification and complete six months of training.

Bass is also expected to complete a 26-city U.S. tour with his fellow band mates this spring before he can begin training in earnest for a Soyuz launch slated for late October.

Bass begins the first leg of his trip to the ISS about a month later than Lori Garver, the former NASA associate administrator who completed her medical certification earlier this month does.

Like Bass, Garver is also counting on sponsorships to cover the cost of her mission. Neither Bass, Garver, nor any other prospective candidate has signed a contract with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency or Korolev, Russia-based Rocket Space Corporation Energia for the upcoming Soyuz flight.

LunaCorp of Fairfax, Va., arranged RadioShack's sponsorship of the Lance Bass trip in cooperation with MirCorp of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

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