alaskaflyer
Final Approach
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AP
Washington: You do not have to be an astronaut anymore to experience the out-of-this-world freedom of walking in space. All you need is $35 million (Rs 1,633,100,000) and the willingness to risk your life.
Space Adventures Ltd., a private Vienna, Virginia, firm that already has sent three men to the international space station for $20 million (euro15.8 million) on Friday said it is now offering an even rarer trip: A stroll outside the space station on a spacewalk for an extra $15 million
``It's just sort of the feeling of freedom, that you are your own satellite,'' said former NASA spacewalker Kathy Thornton, who is on the firm's advisory board. ``There are people who collect material things. There are people who collect experiences. For the people who collect experiences, yeah it is'' worth it.
Working with the blessing of the Russian space agency, the company is arranging for the first spacewalking tourist to go in orbit and outside in about a year or so, chief executive officer Eric Anderson said.
The trip would involve a launch in a Soyuz capsule, an eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station, with a 90-minute spacewalk in a Russian space suit.
An extra month would be added to the normal six months of cosmonaut training for spacewalkers.
The plan still needs the approval of the other 15 partners in the international space station — including NASA — but Anderson said Russian space officials are confident they can get approval, especially since this is using mostly Russian equipment.
In Space Adventures' press release, Russian manned spaceflight chief Alexei Krasnov said that ``spaceflight participants could potentially perform'' a spacewalk.
``They're going to be right outside the door for an hour-and-a-half tethered to the ship. Of course, they will have a cosmonaut with them,'' Anderson said. ``It is the holy grail of spaceflight; it's something very few of the astronauts and cosmonauts have done.''
NASA, which has reluctantly and even grudgingly accepted Russian-initiated space tourism, would not comment, spokesman Grey Hautaluoma said.
Washington: You do not have to be an astronaut anymore to experience the out-of-this-world freedom of walking in space. All you need is $35 million (Rs 1,633,100,000) and the willingness to risk your life.
Space Adventures Ltd., a private Vienna, Virginia, firm that already has sent three men to the international space station for $20 million (euro15.8 million) on Friday said it is now offering an even rarer trip: A stroll outside the space station on a spacewalk for an extra $15 million
``It's just sort of the feeling of freedom, that you are your own satellite,'' said former NASA spacewalker Kathy Thornton, who is on the firm's advisory board. ``There are people who collect material things. There are people who collect experiences. For the people who collect experiences, yeah it is'' worth it.
Working with the blessing of the Russian space agency, the company is arranging for the first spacewalking tourist to go in orbit and outside in about a year or so, chief executive officer Eric Anderson said.
The trip would involve a launch in a Soyuz capsule, an eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station, with a 90-minute spacewalk in a Russian space suit.
An extra month would be added to the normal six months of cosmonaut training for spacewalkers.
The plan still needs the approval of the other 15 partners in the international space station — including NASA — but Anderson said Russian space officials are confident they can get approval, especially since this is using mostly Russian equipment.
In Space Adventures' press release, Russian manned spaceflight chief Alexei Krasnov said that ``spaceflight participants could potentially perform'' a spacewalk.
``They're going to be right outside the door for an hour-and-a-half tethered to the ship. Of course, they will have a cosmonaut with them,'' Anderson said. ``It is the holy grail of spaceflight; it's something very few of the astronauts and cosmonauts have done.''
NASA, which has reluctantly and even grudgingly accepted Russian-initiated space tourism, would not comment, spokesman Grey Hautaluoma said.
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