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Final Decision On Tito Flight Tuesday
Moscow - April 16, 2001 Russian Space Agency chief Yury Koptev and NASA head Dan Goldin are to decide next week whether US businessman Dennis Tito will become the world's first space tourist. Moscow and Washington are at loggerheads over the issue, with the Russians determined to carry through on a 20-million-dollar deal to take the millionaire financier up to the International Space Station (ISS) despite US objections. Noting that Tito, a 60-year-old former space engineer, had passed a rigourous medical examination and received comprehensive training, Koptev insisted that Russia would stand by its commitment to allow him to go into space. The issue will be decided in a discussion between Koptev and Goldin during a teleconference on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency quoted Koptev as saying. Tito is due to blast off aboard a Soyuz TM spaceship, accompanied by Russian cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev and Yury Baturin, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 28. The Soyuz will dock with the ISS two days later and the crew will remain aboard the ISS for six days, Interfax said. On Thursday, during a visit to the Star City training centre near Moscow to mark the 40th anniversary of the first manned flight in space, President Vladimir Putin greeted Tito and wished him "a good flight and good luck." The United States said last month it did not want Tito aboard the ISS, arguing that he would get in the way of the station's crew members. He would be "a non-professional crewmember who is untrained on all critical station systems,... unable to respond and assist in any contingency situation which may arise," NASA said. According to a report from TASS on April 11, During his six-day flight aboard the ISS, the first space tourist will carry out his personal programme. Tito said he will videotape and take photographs, including stereo photographs, maintain radio contact with schools and organisations, transmit information about his flight through the Internet. At a news conference last Wednesday at the Gagarin Cosmonauts' Training Center, Tito told reporters "I am sure everything will be fine. I do not regard the flight as commercial tourism but personal participation in a space flight that will later open the door to space for people," Tito said. He said crew members on ISS will be communicating in English, which everyone knows well. He said he mastered the necessary amount of Russian terminology for emergency situations among others. Tito said it has taken him quite a long time to carry out his dream of flying to space. He said that after the flight he intends to share his impressions with everyone. Mission commander Musabayev described Tito as a very skilled specialist and a good engineer and expressed confidence that "everything will be alright" with their crew-mate during the flight. "Tito is a full-fledged crew member. He is the system operator," he said. During the mission Tito will be in charge of communication systems and carry out all the commands of crew members, Musabayev said. Tito said during the mission he will make videotapes and take photos, organize negotiations and report on his flight through the Internet. He said he is not making any plans in case his flight doesn't take place. Regarding the worsening of the relationship between the Russian Aerospace Agency and NASA due to the negative attitude of NASA to his flight, Tito said that according to a poll 80% of Americans support his intentions to fly. The main and standby crews should leave for Baikonur on April 16, where for two days they will "try out" the spaceship. After that they will return to the training center near Moscow for the continuation of training and preparations for scientific experiments. On April 23 they will leave for Baikonur for final preparations for takeoff.
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