Word: titos
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...into space. A day or so later, the capsule will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS)--thus earning a place in the annals of space history. For aboard that Soyuz craft, along with two Russian cosmonauts, will be a 60-year-old American millionaire named Dennis Tito. Amateurs have flown in space before--including three U.S. congressmen, a Russian politician, a Japanese TV reporter and a Saudi prince--but Tito will be the first paying tourist...
...also very nearly became the first visitor to reach an orbiting spacecraft and get told he wasn't welcome aboard. NASA, along with its Japanese, Canadian and European partners in the space-station project, made it clear it didn't want Tito to fly, claiming he would be in the way of the real spacemen, who will be working on the still unfinished orbital complex--installing a brand-new Canadian-built robot arm, for example, that just went up on the shuttle...
...late last week, after months of trying to keep Tito grounded, NASA backed off. It really had little choice. The Russians are partners in the space-station project too, which gives them the right to select their own crews. Kicking them out of the partnership was unthinkable. Not only do the others need Russia's Soyuz capsules (for emergency escapes) and expertise in long-duration space flight, they also want to keep Russian rocket scientists and engineers gainfully employed so that they aren't tempted to sell their services to rogue states...
...only way to stop Tito was to bar the hatch if he showed up--triggering an international diplomatic incident--or to convince Russia that the investment tycoon was unqualified for space flight. NASA tried the latter, but it was tough given Tito's background. He may not be a cosmonaut, but he is an actual rocket scientist who worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory before becoming a successful businessman. (He founded the investment firm Wilshire Associates.) He also completed some 900 hours of training in Star City, the cosmonauts' boot camp, and was deemed flightworthy by Russia's space...
...Thursday, say the sources, NASA conceded it could not dictate Russia's budget, and NASA representative Bill MacArthur brought legal documents to Tito, who is now in Moscow training with his fellow cosmonauts. Essentially, the deal pledged that Tito or his survivors would not sue NASA if anything goes wrong. "It also requires that he pay for anything he breaks," says a source close to the millionaire. The founder of the Wilshire Fund quickly scribbled his name. Now with his ticket to ride, Tito appears assured of a seat atop a flaming cylinder of explosives as it rockets him into...