View from the Soyuz TM-32 carrying Dennis Tito just before docking at station Alpha on April 30, 2001. Click to enlarge.
A new Soyuz spacecraft is seen docked to station Alpha on April 30, 2001. Its taxi crew included space tourist Dennis Tito. Click to enlarge.
A Soyuz U rocket lifts off April 28, 2001 on the first taxi mission to station Alpha with a three-man crew that includes space tourist Dennis Tito. Click to enlarge.
Would-Be Space Tourists Get Medical Tests By Interfax
posted: 01:30 pm ET 14 June 2001 ET
MOSCOW (Interfax) - Six potential space tourists have completed a medical examination at the Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, a well-informed source told Interfax on Thursday
MOSCOW (Interfax) - Six potential space tourists have completed a medical examination at the Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, a well-informed source told Interfax on Thursday.
No specific space flights are in question yet.
"A group of hopefuls of different nationalities and from different countries decided to check their health for chances of a space flight and applied for that to the institute after American financier
Dennis Tito visited the International Space Station (ISS)," the source said, adding that the candidates for space flights underwent the examinations at their own expense.
Experts find space tourism quite promising because many of those willing to fly belong to the world of arts and culture and could strikingly describe what happens on a space station --
has been inquiring about the possibility of its representatives flying to space. However, the institute said, so far there have been no official applications.
Experts say that the organization of commercial flights for non- professionals is largely hindered by the absence of legal grounds for their flights to the ISS. They hope that such regulations will be approved by ISS partner nations before the end of the year.
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