MOSCOW Feb. 8 (Interfax) -- American financier Dennis Tito has started training to fly as a space tourist to the International Space Station (ISS) with a Russian crew.
Tito is currently completing his medical examination in the Central Research Aviation Institute, where all cosmonauts undergo their preflight examination and receive treatment, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center has told Interfax.
Tito arrived in Moscow for training on Jan. 21. However, doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and put him in hospital for treatment for two weeks. Nonetheless, Gagarin Center specialists have expressed their confidence that Tito will be able to complete the training to fly to the ISS. The launch of the expedition is scheduled for April 30. The value of Tito's contract has not been released. Experts estimate it at approximately $20 million.
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