LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Millionaire Dennis Tito who earlier this year flew to the International Space Station (ISS) courtesy of a Russian booster, remains head over heels about his trek, but says its going to be a while before the public-at-large can get the same experience.
Tito recapped his voyage here October 20, offering new insight into life onboard the station at the Space Frontier Foundations 10th annual symposium: In Search of 2001.
"If were really going to see significant advances in the next 100 years in human spaceflight, I think its going to happen from the private sector," Tito said. "People who love space as much as I dowill make this happen, eventually. If theres enough demand there will be money from the private sector to make it happen," he said.
Open book
Tito said the first step in getting more tourists into space has already been taken. NASA is now supporting the Russians in flying civilians on their taxi flights, those that can afford the trip and qualify to fly, he said. "As we get more and more of that, that will demonstrate that there really is a market," Tito said.
"One of the objectives that we all have is to see space commercialized. Its only through the commercialization of space, and by bringing the private sector in to lower the cost of putting people in space that we will really see an expansion of space travel from this point. I dont see the government doing it. They have some kind of number like $14 billion and they cant seem to get beyond that," Tito said.
Regarding other commercial uses of space and using the ISS, Tito advised that protecting the security or privacy of corporate efforts is crucial.
"Of course NASA has to formally embrace the idea of space commercialization. But there has to be a lot of changes that have to be made before you can induce the corporations to actually engage in some research. They dont like their research being followed by their competitors. Everything is pretty much an open book up there," Tito stressed.
Button pushing 101
Tito recalled that he was not trained on the American segment of the ISS. "There was a problem in Houston where they wouldnt let me in. I dont knowI didnt have a pass," he said.
Lack of training on Americas ISS hardware proved not to be a problem, Tito recounted.
It turns out that you dont really have to be trained on the American segment, he told the audience. "In fact my mother actually trained me on the American segment when I was 7 years old. What she taught me when I was 7 was dont touch the light socket. Once I got past that age, I realized that you dont push the wrong button. Any responsible adult is not going to push the wrong button," he said.
"You just have to know that, because theres really nothing in the American segment but computers and buttons. So they escorted me, which was fine. So at least I knew I didnt push the wrong button," Tito said.
Potty training
But there was a problem of lack of training on the station. It turns out that 13 hours before Tito and his two crewmates docked to ISS, visiting space shuttle astronauts ran into a slight difficulty.
While the shuttle was docked to the ISS, they developed a problem with an apparently overworked toilet.
The U.S. side requested the use of the toilet in the Russian segment. But there was one problem. The visiting shuttle crew had no training on how to use the Russian toilet. Russian mission control first refused the astronauts access to the toilet; Tito recounted, due to their lack of training.
The Russian commander of the ISS did step in, overruling Russian mission control and allowed toilet training onboard, Tito said.
"So these guys all were toilet trained on the station. The funny thing was that one of my Russian crewmates decided to rename the shuttle. Rather than call it the space shuttle, he decided to call it the space shittle, Tito said.
Passion for space
Tito said his hunger to travel into space began early in his youth. "For me, space has always been a passion," he said.
"I wasnt interested in setting any records. I wanted to go to spacesomething Ive wanted all my life. It would not have mattered to me if I was totally anonymous, had to wear a disguise, or they sent me up there in some kind of box so nobody would have known about it. It didnt matter, just as long as I could experience space," Tito said.
Paying a purported $18 million for his space outing, Titos mission did garner huge amounts of publicity. "I dont think many people paid a lot of attention to ISS until our mission took place," he said.
Prior to his space voyage, Tito said he was not sure what the reality of true space flight might be like.
"My biggest fear was not that the rocket would blow up," he said.
Of greater worry was whether or not space sickness or even a space case of jet lag might detract from his trip as he entered the ISS on April 30, Tito said.
"All of these things turned out not to be a problem. I had a small bout of space sickness the first day. It was a non-event. It came and went. It wasnt like being on a boat and being seasick all day. The rest of the mission was pure euphoria," Tito said. "The time I spent on the station was the most enjoyable period of my life. I slept like a baby and floated for 8 days, he said.
Growth experience
The well-heeled Tito said that his pre-flight training meant taking on a far different life style.
"I gave up 8 months of my life to train in a place outside of Moscow and lived in a two room flat. I had to make my own bed and cook my own food, and live a very austere life. I was ordered around like a recruit in boot camp. I didnt mind thatit was a growth experience, a personal experience. After having had a successful business, maybe it was good for my spirit to be at the low end of the totem pole and be a trainee. It did a lot for me," he said.
Even if he did not rocket into space, the training alone was beneficial, Tito said. "I learned a lot about myself, my abilities, my perseverance," he added.
"But I can tell you that there is nothing like flying in space. It was absolutely fabulous."
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