Simonyi begins training

RIA Novosti reported Thursday that former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi has started training for his flight to the ISS. While Space Adventures has not announced a date for Simonyi’s flight, the RIA Novosti report stated that Simonyi would be training for a flight to the ISS in 2007. Presumably this will be in March 2007, […]

Spare us the details

As further evidence that Anousheh Ansari will be taking the place of rejected Japanese space tourist Daisuke Enomoto on next month’s Soyuz flight comes this report from AFP about modifications being made to the Soyuz spacecraft to accommodate Ansari. And why are those changes being made? “A woman’s organism is different, that’s why we need […]

Ansari to replace Enomoto

While there has been no formal announcement from Space Adventures, Roskosmos officials said Tuesday that, as expected, Anousheh Ansari will replace Daisuke Enomoto on the Soyuz flight to the ISS next month. Ansari has been training in parallel with Enomoto as his backup, and when Enomoto was medically disqualified Monday, Ansari was the most likely […]

Dice-K rolls snake eyes

In a surprise development, the Russian space agency Roskosmos announced Monday that Daisuke “Dice-K” Enomoto, who was to fly to the ISS next month on the Soyuz TMA-9 mission, had been removed from the crew because of an undisclosed medical condition. (See a summary of the announcement and related links.) With Enomoto no longer able […]

SpaceX, RpK win COTS awards

NASA announced this afternoon that, as many people suspected in the days leading up to this afternoon’s announcement, that SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) won Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) awards to develop cargo and crew transportation vehicles to serve the ISS. SpaceX proposed the Dragon capsule, launched atop a Falcon 9, as described in […]

Spaceport Nova Scotia?

The Toronto Star reports this morning that PlanetSpace has signed an agreement with the government of Nova Scotia to develop a spaceport in the province for the company’s planned orbital vehicle. As reporter Scott Simmie writes:

…Nova Scotia has signed a “team agreement” to provide 300 acres of land – and perhaps even some funding […]

Orbital space tourism update

Space Adventures announced today that Charles Simonyi, the company’s most recent client, has won medical approval from Russian authorities for a future Soyuz flight. Space Adventures did not disclose, though, when Simonyi might fly, saying only that “More details regarding Dr. Simonyi’s scheduled launch date, commencement of training and specific mission objectives will be announced […]

Spacewalk backlash

It was probably inevitable that someone would speak out against Space Adventures’ announcement Friday that it will offer spacewalks as an option for its orbital tourists. While a number of former NASA spacewalkers who advise the company have endorsed the plan, former astronaut Jerry Linenger, who performed an EVA during his stay on the Mir […]

Space Adventures offers spacewalks

Astronauts who have performed EVAs have routinely stated that their spacewalks have been the highlights of their trips to space, giving them a sense of freedom not possible by simply flying inside a spacecraft. Now, space tourists with a little extra spending money (okay, a lot of extra spending money) can share in that experience. […]

A space hotel Genesis

In an essay in this week’s issue of The Space Review, Taylor Dinerman sees the launch of Genesis 1 last week as a key milestone towards the eventual development of space hotels. As he writes:

Only a few space tourists will be content with a short ride into orbit followed by a uncomfortable stay inside […]

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