US Tech Entrepreneur Buys Tourist Seat On Soyuz Space Flight

SPACE TRAVEL

Gregory Olsen

Washington (AFP) Jul 28, 2005
A New Jersey technology entrepreneur has secured a seat on the Russian Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft to make him the third paying tourist on a space flight, US "space experiences" firm Space Adventures said Wednesday.

Gregory Olsen, 60, will join Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and US astronaut William McArthur on the flight to the International Space Station scheduled to launch October 1 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"I am extremely pleased that Greg has been named to the Soyuz TMA-7 crew," said Eric Anderson, president of Space Adventures.

"He is in the process of completing the cosmonaut training program, and as declared by the Russian space agency, he's in excellent condition," Anderson said.

The trip will make Olsen the third-ever "space tourist", following earlier trips by US businessman Dennis Tito and African Mark Shuttleworth.

Space Adventures, a company set up by former US astronauts to book commercial space travel, charges 20 million dollars for a one-week Soyuz flight.

Physicist Olsen is the chairman of Sensors Unlimited, which develops sensitive near-infrared cameras. He plans to conduct experiments in remote sensing and astronomy while aboard the space station, he said.

Olsen had to undergo months of rigorous physical preparation and 500 hours of cosmonaut training to qualify for the misson.

Anatoly Perminov, chief of Russia's Federal Space Agency, commended Olsen for "his determination and dedication to this mission".

"We look forward to many future private missions," Perminov said.

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SPACE TRAVEL

Zero Gravity Corporation Successfully Inaugurates ZERO-G Learning Lab

Fort Lauderdale FL (SPX) Jul 21, 2005
This past weekend, fifteen very lucky Florida science teachers experienced the thrill that only a few hundred astronauts have had -- flying in zero-gravity. The selected teachers were participants on the inaugural flight of the ZERO-G Learning Lab. G-FORCE ONE, the only commercial aircraft to offer zero-gravity flights, took off at 8:30 am (ET) Sunday, July 17, and flew 19 parabolas, giving its passengers more than ten minutes of weightlessness during the flight.

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