Report: NASA agrees to let tourist go into space

Dennis Tito

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- NASA has agreed to allow the Russian space agency to send a paying tourist to the international space station at the end of the month, Time magazine reported, quoting sources close to the negotiations.

NASA officials refused to confirm or deny the report.

However, NASA, despite its loud objections, has quietly begun making preparations should California millionaire Dennis Tito show up at the orbiting complex.

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NASA had Tito sign a legal document, pledging neither he nor his heirs would sue the U.S. space agency if anything goes wrong in space, the sources told the magazine. The agreement also calls for Tito to pay for anything he breaks.

Yuri Koptev, chief of the Russian Aerospace Agency, met Friday with the crew that will ride aboard a Soyuz craft to space station Alpha in less than two weeks, according to the Associated Press.

The flight team includes two professional cosmonauts and Tito, 60, who paid up to $20 million to the cash-strapped Russian space agency for the 10-day round trip excursion into orbit.

After visiting the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for suit fittings earlier this week, the three resumed final training at the cosmonaut center near Moscow.

The United States, the main contributor to the 16-nation consortium building Alpha, has objected to Tito's presence on the multi-billion dollar outpost, arguing that he lacks the training and Russian language skills to ensure the safety of the mission.

Russia, which controls the Soyuz flights, has countered that Tito has trained for months with cosmonauts and is prepared for the trip.

Koptev was to discuss the Tito quandary on Friday via telephone with Daniel Goldin, the chief of NASA, and possibly the heads of other participating space agencies. But Goldin on Thursday told reporters the teleconference likely would not happen.

NASA spokesperson Kirsten Larson on Friday said the talks were likely called off "because of a logistical issue."

"Earlier in the week there had been some discussions of having a heads of agency discussion between the partners. But that is not currently planned," she said.

Despite its adamant objections, NASA is making preparations for an Alpha visit by Tito, a former NASA rocket scientist who made a fortune in investments.

Space station Alpha

"We have asked our operations teams to look at the space station crew's timeline during the (Soyuz) taxi flight to see what kind of modifications could be made to their schedule to ensure everyone's safety," Larson said.

Russia agreed to supply a fresh Soyuz ship to Alpha every six months. After their flight, the two cosmonauts and presumably Tito would return in an old Soyuz docked to the station.

The three-seat Russian crafts serve as escape capsules should the residents of Alpha need to return to Earth in an emergency.

The Soyuz taxi team should arrive at Alpha on April 30, the same day the space shuttle Endeavour is expected to land after delivering a $1 billion robot arm to the station.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Shuttle lifts off on mission to 'arm' Alpha
April 19, 2001
Alpha crew makes room for guests
April 18, 2001

NASA
International space station Alpha

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