Millionaire begins training for Mir trip
By Richard Stenger
CNN.com Writer
(CNN) -- A wealthy U.S. businessman has received medical clearance from Russian space agency doctors to begin training for a commercial flight to the aging Mir space station, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Thursday.
Dennis Tito, 59, a former U.S. space program engineer who manages an
investment fund, plans to ride with two cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz
transport craft to Mir sometime next year, according to a private
company that is leasing the space station.
Tito agreed to pay millions of dollars to MirCorp for the company's
inaugural tourist excursion, expected to last seven to 10 days. The
Holland-based company charges about $20 million per trip.
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After passing mental and physical training tests, Tito was able to
begin training at the Star City cosmonaut instruction center outside
Moscow, said a MirCorp executive.
The Santa Monica, California-based businessman will shuttle back and
forth between Russia and the United States in order to manage his
company during the training program.
A previous attempt by MirCorp to put a paying customer in orbit ended
in embarrassment when the candidate -- British businessman Peter
Llewelyn -- turned out not to be the multimillionaire he claimed to be.
The Amsterdam-based MirCorp has signed an agreement with the producer
of the chart-breaking "Survivor" reality-TV show, Mark Burnett, for a
possible program based at Star City.
The cash-strapped Russian space agency planned to retire Mir, but the
14-year-old outpost won a reprieve this year when MirCorp and the
Russian Energia corporation agreed to lease it for commercial ventures.
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