CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first paying tourist to the International Space Station is continuing his quest of space commercialization.
Dennis Tito, a 62-year-old investor, told a packed ballroom at the 40th Space Congress here on Wednesday night that since his launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket, his new passion is to help others reach space.
"I'd like to see thousands of people fly," Tito said.
Although space trips like his are expensive, he said that for the price of an SUV in the next five years, it might be possible for people to take suborbital rides into space. Those flights, like the first Mercury flights, only will last a few minutes.
"It really doesn't matter whether you spend a few minutes or eight days," Tito said. "It's all space."
He cited the X Prize, a $10 million contest for the company that can build a suborbital space vehicle capable of launching people, as an example of the type of commercial initiate that will make space tourism possible.
He attended the rollout of an X Prize vehicle, developed by Burt Rutan, last week.
"Government allowing this development to happen -- I think this is really the biggest challenge," he said of the regulatory issues.
The former NASA engineer paid a reported $20 million for his eight-day Soyuz flight in 2001. South African Internet mogul Mark Shuttleworth followed in Tito's footsteps a year later. N'Sync pop star Lance Bass tried to fly on the Soyuz, but couldn't come up with the money in time. The capsules have to be launched every six months. They serve as an escape vehicle on the station, but they have a limited shelf life. "As soon as the shuttle flies again, we'll probably see some more individuals like myself pay the price," he said.
The president of Wilshire Associates in southern California showed some of his home movies from his space trip. He said he spent about 30 hours gazing out the window at Earth while listening to opera CDs.
NASA was reluctant to allow private citizens fly to the International Space Station, citing safety concerns.
"I was allowed (on the U.S. side of the space station) as long as I had an escort," he said.
He assured the crowd he didn't push any buttons.
"You can see I didn't get in anyone's way," Tito said as he showed a video.
Another video clip showed the cockpit of the Soyuz capsule, which had old-fashioned knobs and buttons.
"This is a modern cockpit because it has post-it notes," Tito said.
Tito did not have any formal contact with NASA officials except for the debriefing he had after his flight.
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2003 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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