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2nd Space Tourist To Visit ISS In April 2002

Posted by chrisd on from the another-reason-to-save-your-pennies-and-dimes dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "Another continent is represented in space: It has just been announced that Thawte founder Mark Shuttleworth is in the final stages of securing a seat on the next Soyuz launch in April. Press Release says he plans to do a lot of Science up there, with a whole bundle of other stuff. SpaceDaily seems to have broken it first of the commercial news, haven't seen it anywhere else yet. Go, Africa, Go! (Oh, and he reads Slashdot religiously ... Good Luck Mark!)" Looks like it's getting cheaper, too. I think it's time for a Slashdot staff meeting in space...

4 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I'm just not in the know... by brshuttleworth · · Score: 3, Informative
    Or, alternatively, you haven't read some interviews with him :) from a web-chat he had after a Carte Blanche interview:
    Mark Shuttleworth: Of course! The Net is still on course to become the fundamental platform for all communications... from your cellphone to your fridge, they will all talk TCP/IP. But the net makes competition brutal, so expect to work hard for those profits. The mistake was in thinking that something that removed all barriers to entry could also be a source of infinite profitability! I don't think we'll see any new Yahoo! or E-Bay emerge, but we'll see great new ideas like slashdot.org that find a place for themselves, driven by people who love what they are doing and do it better than anybody else as a result, using the net to reach their listeners at the lowest possible cost.
    --
    -- South African and not-an-expatriot [rare]
  2. Re:Wait for this to be verified, then... by reg · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you can't wait, then here's a recent online chat with him, from a South African TV show.

    Regards,
    -Jeremy

  3. Re:Through Haggling, Space by Siener · · Score: 4, Informative

    The difficulties appear to have been resolved though, and through the magnificent power of over $20 million, a just about anyone can get into space.

    True, almost. To avoid the problems that Dennis Tito had with NASA (he's a safety risk because of lack of training etc.), Mark went through a much more rigorous and thorough training program. It has been reported that he could in fact be considered as a fully trained cosmonaut.

    Also, this will not be a purely recreational trip. He's hoping to make the trip pay for itself by conducting some experiments in space that could later have some commercial value.

    There also seems to be some confusion here at /. about the "Go, Africa go" bit in the post. Mark Shuttleworth is a South African. So am I, so : "Go, Mark go"

    --
    siener's youtube channel
  4. Incorrect Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think the story subitted is incorrect. This will be the third space tourist. The first space tourist was way back in October 29 1998 The second was on 30 April 2001 So this should definately be the thrid right?