Shuttleworth Flies
African in space
by Alan Breakstone
AFRICAN IN SPACE
Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth became humankind's second paying space traveller on April 25. He is also the first South African to fly into space.
Shuttleworth and his two crewmates, veteran Russian commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori, lifted off aboard a Russian Soyuz from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at approximately 2:27 a.m. EDT. The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station
(
ISS) on April 27. Shuttleworth is due to return to Earth on May 4, after spending 8 days onboard the
ISS.
The pioneering space tourism company Space Adventures
, Ltd. arranged for Shuttleworth's flight with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Space Adventures previously arranged for the historic flight of the first paying space tourist,
Dennis Tito, last year.
"We are very excited about Mr. Shuttleworth's journey and look forward to making the dream of space flight a reality for more people," said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures. The company plans to arrange future orbital space tourist flights each April and October when Soyuz taxi missions lift off for the
ISS.
Shuttleworth will be performing experiments in stem cell and HIV research, negating his status as a mere tourist: According to his website dedicated to the topic, www.africaninspace.com, he prefers the appellation "afronaut."
Below is the press release from Space Adventures:
Arlington, VA (USA), April 25, 2002 - Space Adventures, Ltd., the leading space tourism company, announced today the successful launch of its second orbital client, Mark Shuttleworth, to the
International Space Station (
ISS). Shuttleworth and his two crewmates, Russian commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori, took off today on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at
approximately 2:27 a.m. EDT. The Soyuz will dock with the ISS' Zarya module around 4 a.m. Saturday. Shuttleworth is due to return to Earth on May 4, after spending 8 days onboard the
ISS.
"We are very excited about Mr. Shuttleworth's journey and look forward to making the dream of space flight a reality for more people," said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures. Future opportunities for orbital space tourist flights are available each April and October through Space Adventures.
Interview opportunities with Space Adventures representatives are available upon request.
About Space Adventures, Ltd.
Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space tourism company, offers a wide range of space experiences, from zero-gravity and high-altitude supersonic flights, cosmonaut training and space flight qualification programs on Earth, to actual flights into space. With offices in Arlington, Va. and Moscow, Space Adventures is developing a U.S.-based spaceport from which sub-orbital space flights will begin operations by 2005. For more information about Space Adventures, please call 1-888-85-SPACE or visit www.spaceadventures.com.
CONTACT:
Tereza Predescu
Phone: +1 (703) 524-7172
Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth became humankind's second paying space traveller on April 25. He is also the first South African to fly into space.
Shuttleworth and his two crewmates, veteran Russian commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori, lifted off aboard a Russian Soyuz from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at approximately 2:27 a.m. EDT. The Soyuz is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station
(
ISS) on April 27. Shuttleworth is due to return to Earth on May 4, after spending 8 days onboard the
ISS. The pioneering space tourism company Space Adventures
, Ltd. arranged for Shuttleworth's flight with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Space Adventures previously arranged for the historic flight of the first paying space tourist,
Dennis Tito, last year. "We are very excited about Mr. Shuttleworth's journey and look forward to making the dream of space flight a reality for more people," said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures
. The company plans to arrange future orbital space tourist flights each April and October when Soyuz taxi missions lift off for the
ISS. Shuttleworth will be performing experiments in stem cell and HIV research, negating his status as a mere tourist: According to his website dedicated to the topic, www.africaninspace.com, he prefers the appellation "afronaut."
Below is the press release from Space Adventures
: Arlington, VA (USA), April 25, 2002 - Space Adventures
, Ltd., the leading space tourism company, announced today the successful launch of its second orbital client, Mark Shuttleworth, to the
International Space Station (
ISS). Shuttleworth and his two crewmates, Russian commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori, took off today on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at approximately 2:27 a.m. EDT. The Soyuz will dock with the ISS
' Zarya module around 4 a.m. Saturday. Shuttleworth is due to return to Earth on May 4, after spending 8 days onboard the
ISS. "We are very excited about Mr. Shuttleworth's journey and look forward to making the dream of space flight a reality for more people," said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures
. Future opportunities for orbital space tourist flights are available each April and October through Space Adventures. Interview opportunities with Space Adventures
representatives are available upon request. About Space Adventures
, Ltd. Space Adventures
, Ltd., the world's leading space tourism company, offers a wide range of space experiences, from zero-gravity and high-altitude supersonic flights, cosmonaut training and space flight qualification programs on Earth, to actual flights into space. With offices in Arlington, Va. and Moscow, Space Adventures is developing a U.S.-based spaceport from which sub-orbital space flights will begin operations by 2005. For more information about Space Adventures, please call 1-888-85-SPACE or visit www.spaceadventures.com. CONTACT:
Tereza Predescu
Phone: +1 (703) 524-7172
