 |
| At the international station, Mr. Olsen will focus on experiments related to his company’s technology |
At 10:55 AM this morning, American scientist and businessman Gregory Olsen will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket for a journey to the International Space Station, on a 10-day flight valued at $20 million.
Before him, only two Earth residents have had the honor of visiting this space complex: American millionaire Dennis Tito in 2001 and South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002.
“I will be most relaxed and comfortable once the rocket takes off,” Dr. Olsen stated at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur spaceport before his departure. “Nowadays, everyone can fly weekly. The same will hold true for space flights – there will be many more tourists following me,” he said.
Joining him on the Soyuz are commander William McArthur from the USA and flight engineer Valery Tokarev from Russia.
Tokarev and McArthur will replace the current crew living aboard the international station, Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips, who have been on orbit since April. On October 11, Olsen will return to Earth with Krikalev and Phillips.
Gregory Olsen, 60, has extensive experience in the scientific field and is the director of Sensors Unlimited, a research company based in Princeton.
Russian transport ships Soyuz and Progress have become the sole means of transporting people and cargo to the space station since the Columbia disaster in 2003, which grounded American space shuttles. In July, the shuttle Discovery visited the station, but issues with the insulation foam on the external fuel tank once again raised safety concerns for this fleet.
T. An (according to BBC, AP)
