NASA Grants Tito Exemption: Space Tourist Will Fly
posted: 01:19 pm ET 24 April 2001 ET
NASA and other space agencies have decided to grant Dennis Tito an "exemption," which means that the U
NASA and other space agencies have agreed to grant Dennis Tito an "exemption" to normal procedure, effectively giving the U.S. millionaire a green light to become the first private citizen to pay his own ticket to space.
Should Tito Fly?
Although NASA has signed off on 'space adventurer' Tito's flight, the question remains: should he have pushed the issue in the first place? Take the SPACE.com poll and let the world know where you stand!
"The International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board, acting on the recommendation of the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, approved the exemption today," the U.S. space agency announced Tuesday in a short statement.
The Multilateral Crew Operations Panel is the six-member body that arbitrates crew-related issues among the 16 nations participating in the International Space Station (ISS) project.
The panel includes representatives from the
U.S., Canadian and European space agencies, all of which have previously argued against Tito's flight to the ISS on the grounds that the would-be "space tourist" was not properly trained for the adventure and the space station was in too early a stage of construction to welcome visitors.
NASA will hold an open event to comment publicly on the decision at 2:30 p.m. EDT (18:30 GMT).
Tito is now set to start his journey aboard a Russian Soyuz on Friday, April 28, having paid a reported $20 million for the opportunity.
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