It was less than a year ago, in June, 2000, that Tito formally announced his intention to become the world's first private space traveler with a $20 million deal with MirCorp, to fly to Russia's then aging Mir space station.
With Mir's ultimate demise earlier this year, the original plan died and, seemingly along with it, Tito's pioneering quest. But Tito set his sights on a far grander set of accommodations -- the International Space Station (ISS). At first, neither the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviacosmos) nor NASA seemed eager to fly him or offer orbital lodging.
With the assistance of Space Adventures, the Russian space agency finally agreed. But then it was NASA and other ISS partners that took strong issue with a flight by Tito. A Texas showdown in March, when Tito and his two Soyuz crewmates arrived in Houston for training, threatened to deny the would-be space tourist his newfound seat aboard the Russian spacecraft. NASA refused to allow Tito's training and his two Russian crewmates threatened to walk away from the space center.
High-level meetings between the heads of the two space agencies, blue ribbon panels and Russian tenacity produced a drawn-out diplomatic standoff. Finally, NASA blinked and Tito signed an agreement stating that neither he nor any of his survivors would sue NASA if he is injured or killed during the 10-day round trip to the outpost -- and also that Tito will pay for anything he breaks aboard Alpha. Tito, who is paying Rosaviacosmos an estimated $20 million to live his boyhood dream, is now good-to-go from Baikonur aboard the bug-shaped Soyuz spaceship on April 28.
Before leaving Star City for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tito sat down for a chat with Yuri Karash, SPACE.com's Moscow contributing correspondent, and reflected on his historic flight
SPACE.com: What do you hope to accomplish from this flight?
Tito: I want to experience space; something I wanted to do for 40 years. My main goal is to realize my life's dream. My specific goals will be to photograph the Earth, do a lot of photographs inside the station, to document my feelings and thoughts.
I hope to spend some quality time with the crew and enjoy the human experience of working with the crew. That includes the Soyuz crew as well as the International Space Station's Expedition Two crew.
SPACE.com: Do you consider yourself a space tourist or are you an astronaut?
Tito: Neither. I think I am a space traveler or space adventurer. "Astronaut" is a term used mainly by NASA and the term "cosmonaut" is used mainly by Russia. So, I would be much closer to being a Russian cosmonaut than anything else.
SPACE.com: How do you think your trip will open doors for other would-be space tourists?
Tito: Even though it was not part of my original objective, it appears that this flight will have an important role in defining spaceflight for individuals in the future. It was very difficult for me to arrange this flight and I suspect that it will be much easier eventually -- and less expensive -- for future individuals to realize their dreams.
SPACE.com: Are you surprised that NASA was so vocal in opposing your launch?
Tito: Yes, I am actually quite surprised that NASA has opposed my flight, because the publicity that will come to ISS and the interest that it will generate by the American public, for spaceflight, will be tremendous and a benefit for NASA.
However, I am not surprised that the Russians stuck to their commitment. The Russians have been consistent from day-one when I first started working on the possible flight to Mir. In particular, General Pyotr Klimuk, chief of the Cosmonauts' Training Center and Dr. Yuri Semenov, the president of RSC Energia, were very supportive.. And once the agreement was signed at the end of January, Mr. Koptev, the head of Rosaviacosmos, has been consistent with his strong feelings that this mission would fly as scheduled in spite of the opposition.
SPACE.com: Are you disappointed that you won't be flying up with an American crew?
Tito: I really have not thought of it from standpoint of being disappointed. I know from polls that have been taken that 80 percent of the American people support the flight, and that senior members of Congress in both political parties that oversee the House Science Committee that deals with NASA are supporting my flight.
And as far I can tell that most people that I talked to from NASA, are also supportive. So, it is hard for me to feel disappointed under those circumstances.
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