That ain't cyberspace, that's real space!
Though I suppose that I should be considered considerably more a resident
than a tourist, I can lay claim to making visits to cyberspace for more than a
decade. Today, however, marks the fifth anniversary of the flight of the first
space (what, when I was a kid we used to call "outer", though in this
case it's definitely much more "inner" space) tourist - Dennis
Tito.
A self-made multi-millionaire, Tito was once employed by NASA
and has dreamed of space since he was a teenager. Being rich didn't hurt - he
paid the Russian space agency an undisclosed sum in the millions of dollars for
a seat on a three-person Soyuz spaceship that traveled to the then almost three
year old International Space Station for some maintenance work. Other space agencies
are presently opposed to space tourism (can a businessman have "the right
stuff"?) but the Russians, always in need of funds, were willing to save
a seat for a paying customer.
Safety considerations were what kept other
space agencies from accepting Tito's offer to pay his way, but upon
returning it seems Tito proved that a sixty year old businessman can successfully
survive the trip - and enjoy it. I'll never be able to afford it, but I can well
understand someone who has the money making a trip like this.
Go to: Are
crowds really that smart?