First Space Tourist: How a U.S. Millionaire Bought a Ticket to Orbit First Space Tourist: How a U.S. Millionaire Bought a Ticket to Orbit By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 27, 2011 06:00am ET MORE American businessman Dennis Tito, the world’s first orbital space tourist, is seen training for his historic 2001 flight to the International Space Station. Tito launched in April 2001 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft thanks to a $20 million deal brokered by the Virginia-based firm Space Adventures. Credit: Space Adventures This story is part of a SPACE.com series to mark a decade of space tourism. Coming tomorrow: The future of space tourism and its impact on space science. If the era of commercial spaceflight has a birthday, it's April 28, 2001. On that date, American businessman Dennis Tito became history's first space tourist , paying his own way to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Forty years to the month after Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, Tito showed that there was money to be made in human spaceflight -- potentially lots of money, as he plunked down a reported $20 million for his flight. Now, 10 years later, the industry looks set to heat up, with multiple firms jockeying for position in a commercial space race that is arguably already under way. "The private spaceflight industry did start with Dennis' flight," said Tom Shelley, president of Space Adventures, the Virginia-based company that brokered Tito's eight-day mission with Russia's Federal Space Agency and has sent a total of seven people on eight orbital flights since 2001. "That was the first real milestone and demonstrated to a lot of people that there was a market for private citizens to go to space." [ Photos: The World's First Space Tourists ] A lifelong dream, nearly deferred Tito made his millions in the world of finance. But he was once an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has been a space enthusiast since he was a teenager. "My dream was to fly in space before I die," Tito said.

"And I basically came up with that lifelong goal around the time of Yuri Gagarin's flight ." In early 2000, Tito started working toward making his dream a reality. He would turn 60 later that year, and he felt like his chances of getting into space were rapidly running out. The oldest rookie spaceflyer at the time, after all, was NASA astronaut Deke Slayton, who first made it to orbit in 1975 at the age of 51. "So I was gettting over the hill, I thought," Tito told SPACE.com. "So I said, 'It's now or never.'" In June 2000, Tito signed a deal with a company called MirCorp to ride a Soyuz to Russia's Mir space station. However, those plans fell through in December of that year, when Russia announced that it planned to deorbit the aging station. (Mir burned up in Earth's atmosphere in March 2001.) Undeterred, Tito soon made other arrangements. He signed on with Space Adventures, which brokered an April 2001 flight to the International Space Station , again on a Soyuz.

The station was a relatively new project at the time, having just begun assembly operations in November 1998. NASA makes it tough The Russians agreed to take Tito's money and offer him a seat on a Soyuz. But the other station partners -- notably NASA and space agencies from Canada, Europe and Japan -- were not so thrilled. They informed Russia that they "recommended against" Tito's mission. NASA officials said at the time that they didn't object in principle to the presence of a paying customer aboard the orbiting lab. They just didn't think Tito's training would be sufficient by April, which they said was a time of complex and crucial station operations. "During this period, the presence of a nonprofessional crewmember who is untrained on all critical station systems, is unable to respond and assist in any contingency situation which may arise, and who would require constant supervision, would add a significant burden to the Expedition and detract from the overall safety of the International Space Station," reads a NASA press release from March 19, 2001. Tito thinks his age may also have been a factor. "If you're older, heart attacks happen, strokes happen, whatever," he said.

"And what are they going to do, transport a corpse back to Earth? That would be very embarrassing for them, and traumatic." So NASA did what it could to keep Tito from getting off the ground in April, according to Tito and Space Adventures officials. "They put up everything that they could throw in the way to make it not happen," Shelley told SPACE.com. Eight months at Star City Meanwhile, Tito carried on. He continued his training at the Star City complex outside Moscow, where cosmonauts have prepped for flight since Gagarin's day. Tito spent the better part of a year there, toiling in a sort of limbo. "It wasn't easy," Tito said. "I had to hang out in Russia for eight months without really knowing whether I was going to fly or not." Eventually, Tito's perseverance paid off. Over NASA's objections, he launched on April 28, 2001, becoming the 415th person ever to reach space.

But Tito said all the drama and difficulties are water under the bridge, especially since the agency has been so supportive of the six other space tourists who have since flown to the orbiting lab -- and so supportive of private spaceflight in general over the past decade. [ 10 Years of Space Tourism ] "Their support is stronger than I would've ever dreamed or hoped for," Tito said. "So my bottom line is, I have nothing but good things to say about NASA." Fulfilling the dream Tito made it to orbit, spent about six days aboard the space station, and then landed in Kazakhstan on May 6, 2001. His mission has had a lasting impact, inspiring a range of private spaceflight investment and activity, according to Shelley. "I think [Virgin Galactic's] Richard Branson and [Blue Origin's] Jeff Bezos, and even Elon [Musk of SpaceX] -- they really wouldn't be in this industry if it wasn't for what Dennis originally did," Shelley said.

Tito's flight, he added, demonstrated "that this was a feasible activity for private citizens to step up and pay the money." For his part, Tito said he is happy to have been a part of the birth of this industry, though he shifts praise onto spaceflight entrepreneurs and the orbital tourists who came after him. And for him, of course, the trip will always resonate on a much more personal level. "To me, it was a 40-year dream," Tito said. "The thing I have taken away from it is a sense of completeness for my life -- that everything else I would do in my life would be a bonus." You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .

Editor's Recommendations Space Tourism Pioneer: Q & A With Private Spaceflyer Dennis Tito Space Tourism Pioneer: Q & A With Private Spaceflyer Dennis Tito By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 27, 2011 06:00am ET MORE Dennis Tito became the first space tourist when he launched toward the International Space Station in April 2001. Here, he shares his experiences at a space conference in 2003. Credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center This story is part of a SPACE.com series to mark a decade of space tourism. Coming tomorrow: The future of space tourism and its impact on space science. On April 28, 2001, American businessman Dennis Tito ushered in the era of private spaceflight when he blasted into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, bound for the International Space Station. Tito paid a reported $20 million for his eight-day jaunt, becoming the world's first space tourist . In the process, he helped demonstrate the money-making potential of human spaceflight – potential that many different companies are now racing to tap.

As the 10th anniversary of Tito's groundbreaking flight nears, SPACE.com caught up with the space pioneer to chat about his experience -- and the prospects for private spaceflight going forward SPACE.com: Does it seem like it's been 10 years since your flight? Tito: It seems like a short time, because so much has happened that in my view is extremely positive in the commercial human spaceflight domain. SPACE.com: Could you give some examples? Tito: Shortly after I flew, Mark Shuttleworth flew. Then Greg Olsen and Anousheh Ansari -- a total of seven people and eight flights. [ Photos: The World's First Space Tourists ] The fact that we've now done this eight times with seven people is one important accomplishment, because it's demonstrated that it isn't just one crazy guy that decided he wanted to fly in space. There are people that are willing to make big sacrifices -- financially, putting their lives on the line and taking the time to train in Russia. I think the success of the [Ansari] X Prize, and Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne successfully flying suborbitally [in 2004], was a major accomplishment for a private company.

And then the follow-on, with Virgin Galactic signing them up and funding the development of SpaceShipTwo . We will have suborbital commercial spaceflight, I think, within the next couple-three years at a price that people can afford. So that's the second major accomplishment. The third major accomplishment goes beyond anything I've seen done by one person since [Soviet aerospace engineer Sergei] Korolev or maybe Wernher von Braun -- what Elon Musk has done with SpaceX. It's just absolutely incredible what he has accomplished so far. I think this is one man that we'll look back upon as being one of the greatest space entrepreneurs of all time. Flying the Falcon 9 with the Dragon space capsule and successfully re-entering it -- he's well on the way to not only developing a cargo ship, which is almost there, but a manned craft, and that will be really our next method, other than calling upon the Russians, to transport people to space. And the fourth [accomplishment] is politically what has been done at NASA and the administration in terms of changing the whole nature of procurement, and the way they're supporting commercial human spaceflight.

I think this is probably the biggest fundamental change in NASA philosophy and government policy with regard to space in many, many decades, if not from inception. It's just mind-boggling. I look back at those accomplishments more than I even look at my own flight as an accomplishment, because it just happened to coincide with this 10-year period. SPACE.com: But you did help get the ball rolling in many ways. So how does it feel to be a part of that? Tito: Well, I'm very happy that I was there, but let me clarify what really happened at that time. My dream was to fly in space before I die. And I basically came up with that lifelong goal around the time of Yuri Gagarin's flight . So here I was, in the year 2000, and I was about to turn 60. I said, "Time is running out." I was gettting over the hill, I thought. So I said, "It's now or never." That's why I pushed so hard. And I pushed very hard. It became kind of an obsession. I had to convince the Russians -- because I knew that was the only way to go -- that I was serious.

I had to demonstrate that I was really committed to this, and I wouldn't let them down. Because they hadn't done that before -- it was all brand-new. [ 10 Years of Space Tourism ] And then I had to convince them I was in good physical shape, which was difficult in itself because I was 60 when I really started training. And the life expectancy of a Russian male was 57. So in their mind I'm already dead [laughs]. So that was the challenge. Now, a part of it was, I was very open to the media. I held a number of interviews on the primary channel, Channel 1 in Moscow, and I made an effort to kind of win over support. I didn't have 100 percent Russian support -- the Russian space agency was not initially as enthusiastic. The Energia people were, and the Star City people were, but the Russian space agency was a little bit tighter connected with NASA. And clearly NASA was not interested in the idea -- in fact, turned very negative on the idea. It wasn't easy. I had to hang out in Russia for eight months without really knowing whether I was going to fly or not.

SPACE.com: So NASA made it pretty hard for you? They tried to keep this from happening? Tito: Oh, they really tried. To their credit, though, they [have since] turned 180 degrees. And my view is, whatever hardship they caused me then, I forgive them totally. SPACE.com: Do you think NASA's reluctance was because this was so new? At the time, they said April 2001 was a bad time for a tourist trip because there was a lot of assembly work being done on the space station. Tito: Well, there's a whole series of theories. Remember, [would-be teacher-in-space] Christa McAuliffe was a private citizen selected by NASA to be an astronaut and tragically died in the Challenger accident [in 1986]. That was a real big blow to the nation. It's certainly painful, but for people that are professional astronauts to lose their lives is a possibility, because that goes with the territory. But to see a private individual, this thing happen, is something else. And I think at that point, NASA decided that they weren't going to fly private citizens anymore.

It was a big public relations risk, it was a big negative shock to the nation and they didn't want to go through this again. And we can understand that. That's reasonable. I think another issue is, they were concerned about my age. If you're older, heart attacks happen, strokes happen, whatever. And what are they going to do, transport a corpse back to Earth? That would be very embarrassing for them, and traumatic. So those are probably a couple of factors. And then, since they didn't really select me, they had no idea whether I was really qualified. They didn't know whether the Russians were just slipping me through because they needed the money, and that I was some bozo with a lot of money, and I was just going to totally screw things up when I got up there. Well, we all know that didn't happen. To NASA's credit, they recognized that, and they immediately changed their policy to support it. And now you go 10 years, and their support is stronger than I would've ever dreamed or hoped for. They've been very supportive of private spaceflight -- the individuals flying on the station.

[Spaceships of the World: 50 Years of Human Spaceflight ] So my bottom line is, I have nothing but good things to say about NASA. SPACE.com: Once you got to orbit, what was it like? What were some of your most memorable experiences? Tito: Well, the first thing was lift-off. The nine minutes of sheer terror that they describe? I didn’t find it that way at all, because the training was excellent. The thing I do remember is at burnout of the third stage, which meant that we had just entered orbit -- they had pencils hanging from strings in the cabin of the Soyuz. And these pencils just started floating, and I knew it was weightless. You couldn't really tell yourself, because you're strapped in with your belts, so you didn't float at all. But I knew that we were in orbit. And I looked out the window, saw the blackness of space, saw the curvature of Earth, and I just said, "Yes. I made it. I accomplished my life's dream." And that moment I will never forget. SPACE.com: Only a few hundred people have ever had that view. Tito: I was the 415th human to reach space.

To me, it was a 40-year dream. The thing I have taken away from it is a sense of completeness for my life -- that everything else I would do in my life would be a bonus. SPACE.com: Has the experience changed your life in other ways? Tito: Well, I'm empowered by that success, by being able to accomplish it. Even though I will say I accomplished my life dream, now I have some other goals that I think I can accomplish. I recently got my glider rating a couple of years ago, and now I'm working on two glider aircraft, contributing to the construction and planning on being a pilot, to set some world records for both speed and altitude. And, who knows? That might be accomplished some day. I think it's feasible. SPACE.com: Would you like to go back to space? Space Adventures [the company that arranged Tito's flight] is selling seats now for a trip around the moon…. Tito: You know, I never had a goal of going around the moon, although I'd love to to that. But it's out of reach, I think, moneywise. I have to be practical.

That's probably $120 million, and I'm not prepared to spend that kind of money. And, frankly, I think even if I had that amount of money sitting in the bank, I'm 10 years older now. There is a time to hang up your boots as far as that goes. There'll be other people that can do that. I'd rather just sit back and watch them accomplish another milestone. And I'll deal with something that -- like, soaring goals that probably will broaden my experience more than repeating what I've done in the past. SPACE.com: Do you see orbital spaceflight opening up to a lot more people in the next few decades? Tito: I definitely do. And I think it's going to be much bigger than most people predict. I think that we're going to see the costs, in today's dollars, of sending an individual to space for a week or whatever reduced by a major, major amount. Right now, I think it's about $50 million. It could be a million or two if we get some reusability in orbital spacecraft. I see great potential in the Falcon 9, being able to deliver people to orbit very inexpensively. [ Vote Now!

The Best Spaceships of All Time ] You've had close to 10 people pay large amounts of money. There aren't that many people who are worth $50 million. Now, if you lower this down to a million or two -- there are actually millions of people in the United States who are worth a million dollars. SPACE.com: Yes, slashing the price would expand that pool enormously. Tito: Oh, geometrically. So I think the big surprise is going to be -- not that we're not going to see thousands of people flying suborbitally, but that that's going to kind of whet the appetite. And people will say, "Oh, I flew suborbitally, I came back, I was real comfortable from a safety standpoint. I'm ready to graduate and go spend a week in orbit." SPACE.com: Do you think it's feasible to see the price come down that much in 10 years or so? Tito: Yes. But I may be off in time a little. I think it'll eventually get down to that price in today's dollars. It could happen within 10 years. But I think it will happen within 10 to 20 years.

And if I'm wrong, it'll be $5 million -- we won't quite be there yet. But I think you're going to see a lot of people flying in 2021. SPACE.com: It's really exciting to think about those possibilities. Tito: It is exciting. Because as human beings, we need new challenges. And the history of our species is that, for millions of years, we've been migrating. We started in Africa, and we've been migrating in waves around the world. That's a natural part of survival. And we're going to migrate to Mars and maybe other habitats. We're going to set up colonies. It's so ingrained in our behavior as humans to explore, and to expand and to migrate. We're wired that way, and that's why it's so satisflying. You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . Editor's Recommendations How Do You Train to Become a Space Tourist? How Do You Train to Become a Space Tourist?

by Katia Moskvitch, SPACE.com Contributor Share View photos Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completed its second powered flight on Sept. 5, 2013 over California's Mojave Desert. This image was taken by MARS Scientific as part of the Mobile Aerospace Reconnaissance System optical tracking system. More LONDON — Piloting fighter jets, floating in zero gravity and spinning at a belly-flattening speed in a centrifuge are not the things a regular tourist is asked to do before a dream holiday. But this is exactly what Per Wimmer has been doing during 13 years of waiting for his trip — to outer space. For the 45-year-old London-based Danish entrepreneur and financier, it won't even be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So far, he has bought three tickets from companies offering space tourism: Virgin Galactic , Space Adventures and XCOR Aerospace. Wimmer expects to blast into the blackness overhead within the next 18 months, "on whichever rocket becomes available first," he said. When he first found out that private citizens had an opportunity to take a peek beyond Earth's surface, it took him less than 48 hours to pony up the $100,000 to sign up.

[ See photos of Virgin Galactic's powered test flights ] In his investment bank, Wimmer Financial, in the heart of London, Wimmer somehow looks out of place in between corporate office walls. But it's just the first impression: He manages to combine two completely different lives very successfully. Wimmer has a boyish look and a constant chuckle, perhaps belying his daily juggling ofmillionsof dollars for many years, first on WallStreet while working for Goldman Sachs, and now at his own bank. But in between office duties, he has traveled to 66 countries, skied at the world's highest ski resort — on Chacaltaya mountain in Bolivia at nearly 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) — and even made the first-ever tandem skydive over Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth . So going to space seems to be a natural next step. Wimmer bought his first trip, with Virginia-based Space Adventures, in 2000, just after U.S. businessman Dennis Tito managed to secure a deal with the firm to fly to the International Space Station.

Tito, the very first space tourist , reportedly paid $20 million to visit the old Soviet Mir space station, a trip briefly managed at the end of the station's life by a private Russian venture called MirCorp. But when the decision was made to down the crippled Mir and crash it into the ocean, Tito successfully jumped ship and in April 2001 became the first private space explorer, on a Soyuz TM-32 rocket. [ Gallery: Space Adventures' Suborbital Rocket Ride ] "I was on the launch pad in Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russia, 10 minutes before Dennis took off, which is extraordinary, and I saw him off," Wimmer told SPACE.com in an interview. Faster and faster Despite being among the first customers who secured his place with Space Adventures, Wimmer said he preferred not to rush and "to hedge my bets on who were to come first with a viable rocket.” But it didn't prevent him from starting to get ready for the trip, along with other space tourists who blasted off before him. "We just tagged along with the cosmonauts; there wasn't a particular program rolled out for space tourists," Wimmer said.

He had to take the same actions astronauts and cosmonauts — and lately Chinese taikonauts — do to survive the immense stress the body is subjected to during space travel. First, he arrived at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, on the outskirts of Moscow. There, he had to climb inside a nozzlelike structure — the world's biggest and most powerful centrifuge, made to simulate space flight. As the centrifuge spun at breakneck speed, the future space tourist was subjected to several times the g-force on Earth. The g-force is the acceleration due to the Earth’s gravity under freefall. The higher the speed, the greater the g-force experienced, and the more pressure, or tugging, felt inside the body. Astronauts, fighter jet pilots and racing drivers all feel considerable g-forces. Wimmer experienced six times the g-force in the horizontal direction, known as 6Gx — called by fighter jet pilots as "eyeballs back" because of the enormous pressure on the eyes. He then was subjected to three times the g-force vertically, or 3Gz.

This is when the pressure is downward, dubbed "eyeballs down," when blood is pushed toward your feet. "You put on your flight suit, you get into the centrifuge, and get strapped in," Wimmer said, remembering the experience with obvious excitement. "It starts spinning around faster, and faster and faster. With those speeds, they can completely simulate every stage of a rocket launch. You really feel the g, and it's a real space experience." Wimmer did his initial Star City training together with Mark Shuttleworth, who became the second private astronaut and the first South African in space. [ Photos: The First Space Tourists ] Losing your weight The next stage of training was actually getting off the ground — not into space just yet, but close. Wimmer was taken to Zhukovsky air base not far from Moscow. There, a Russian fighter jet MIG-25 was waiting for him. "Same thing — you want to achieve getting this g-force exposure on your body," Wimmer said. Wimmer climbed into the first of the two cockpits, with the pilot in the one behind him. Once up in the air, Wimmer got to fly the plane, turning around and twisting.

The jet went to an altitude of 80,000 feet (24,000 meters) — higher than Concorde used to fly — and reaching speeds of about Mach 2.5-3, or 2.5 to 3 times the speed of sound. As he was flying, Wimmer could "see the curvature of the Earth, the darkness of space, and see the sun coming in as well. It's a surreal experience because it looks like it's day and night at the same time." Wimmer also got to pilot a Czech-made fighter plane Aero L-39 Albatros, and then he was told to swap small jets for a big Ilyushin 76 cargo airplane. What awaited him was what many Earthlings dream of but never get to experience — weightlessness . Once at an altitude of about 8.5 miles (14 kilometers), the huge plane suddenly nose-dived down for about 30 to 40 seconds. And as it happened, everything on board became weightless, and "only your fantasy sets the limits to what you can do," Wimmer said.

Then the plane turns around, you get hit by a force twice that of gravity, and the plane goes back up again. As much as it is an incredible experience, Wimmer said that Zero-G training is essential to learn to control your movements while floating, to avoid spinning around too much and too quickly. Otherwise, it is very easy to get the equivalent of seasickness, with all the same consequences, such as vomiting — not the best thing to do in microgravity. "I would strongly recommend to anybody to do Zero-G before going into space, even if it wasn't mandatory," Wimmer said. "It's best to learn how to maneuver and deal with the temptation to do all sorts of silly things, because it is so thrilling." Ultimate frontier In 2005, Wimmer got a phone call from Virgin Galactic. The firm offered the Dane the chance to become one of the founding private astronauts of the company's SpaceShipTwo , a commercial space vehicle currently under construction at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Wimmer agreed, and secured his space trip for $200,000. Virgin Galactic's spaceship will be dropped by its mother ship, a huge carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo, and fly horizontally at first before turning upward.

To simulate the flight, future space tourists get to train at a privately run centrifuge just outside of Philadelphia, at the National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center. More than 300 aspiring space travelers have so far made the trek there to test their bodies. [ Training for Suborbital Spaceflight (A Photo Guide) ] The centrifuge is smaller that the one in Russia, but is also more modern — its flight pod has a screen that shows the Earth getting smaller and smaller, powerful sound speakers and a motion simulator. "You see what it looks like when you fly into space, and at the same time, you feel the pressure on your body. It's very real," Wimmer said. Part of the training was also another Zero-G flight in the United States, on a Boeing 727. A year later, in 2006, XCOR Aerospace contacted Wimmer as well and offered him a chance to be the first astronaut to fly on their LYNX craft , once it's ready to take to the sky. This ticket cost him $95,000. Normally, a future space visitor has to experience a centrifuge and a Zero-G test at least once, and pass.

But Wimmer did it many times, he says, because he has been waiting for so long. "And because I am one of the founding astronauts on Virgin Galactic, we're sort of like guinea pigs," he said with a laugh. The last time he experienced a centrifuge was in 2011, and he said he will do all the stages of the training again right before he actually flies. And when he does, his initial flights will only last half a day, taking off in the morning, coming back at lunchtime, he said. But, he adds, it'll be worth it. "Space is kind of the ultimate frontier, and being an adventurer in the 21st century really implies getting away from Earth," he said. "Mankind has been travelling in two dimensions since ever, and most of the Earth is now discovered. So we have to get out and try the third dimension — leaving this planet." Follow Katia Moskvitch on Twitter @SciTech_Cat . Follow us @Spacedotcom . We're also on Facebook and Google+ . Original article on SPACE.com .

A Decade in Pictures: 2001 | Daily Maverick Recommended by 9 out of 10 smart people 19 January 2017 16:11 (South Africa) Politics A Decade in Pictures: 2001 Branko Brkic Branko Brkic Brkic is the founder and editor of The Daily Maverick. He has edited magazines on business and politics, technology, and wildlife. He has also published fiction and non-fiction books, most of them in Serbian. Though he has never pretended to be a reporter, his wide knowledge of politics (especially in America), combined with his experiences in a disintegrating Yugoslavia, gives him an unusual outlook on events in South Africa. Despite the vowel-poor surname, he tells anyone who asks that he hails from Hyde Park, Johannesburg, having spent most of his adult life in South Africa. Recent columns: Politics 22 Dec 2010 10:42 (South Africa) It started as a mildly to seriously annoying year, with installment of George W Bush as US President (because his dad happened to have appointed the majority of Supreme Court judges) and ended in fear of looming war between civilisations.

What a crazy year 2001 turned out to be. By BRANKO BRKIC. 15 January: Wikipedia launches. As it always happens with new and outrageously original ideas, a crowd-sourced encyclopaedia seemed destined to be a short-lived project. Well, while some may still make a sour face when Wikipedia is mentioned, it has become nothing short of a global phenomenon. Photo: Wikipedia founder and chairman of Wikia.com Jimmy Wales speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, 8 March 2007. REUTERS/Michael Caronna. 20 January: George W Bush sworn in as 43rd President of the United States. Yippee. As we watched in disbelief the US's last presidential election being, well, stolen, little did we know that he would not only prove hopelessly out of his depth, but also dangerously so. Sadly, our worries soon became desperation in the wake of a stream of disastrous decisions, too numerous to mention in this limited overview. Photo: US President George W. Bush and former president Bill Clinton talk as Clinton leaves the Capitol Building following Bush's inauguration in Washington, 20 January 2001.

Watch George W Bush's inauguration speech: 23 March: Mir crashes down to Earth. Photo: Mir space station in 1998. For decades the Mir station was an object of great pride for the Soviet Union and Russia, a sole permanently-inhabited object in space. But Russia's dried-up funds and commitment to the International Space Station sounded the death knell for the aging leviathan. De-orbiting was conducted in three stages, and completed safely. Unlike the chaotic failure of the previous space giant, Skylab, that landed in the Australian desert in 1979 after months of guessing, Mir's surviving fragments fell into the emptiness of the Southern Pacific. Photo 02: Pieces of the Russian space station Mir race across the sky above Fiji into Earth's atmosphere 23 March 2001. Mir plunged to earth on Friday after Russian Mission Control fired engines to nudge it out of the orbit it had kept for 15 years. 6 May: Dennis Tito returns to Earth Humanity's first space tourist, a seriously wealthy American entrepreneur Dennis Tito paid “tourism” company Space Adventures a reported $20 million for the pleasure.

After spending 7 days, 22 hours and 4 minutes in space and orbiting Earth 128 times, he landed his place in history. Nasa people were not amused, needless to say. Photo: The world’s first space tourist Dennis Tito (C) flies into the International Space Station as Russian Talgat Musabayev (R) looks on and the station's commander Yuri Usachev (L) welcomes them, 30 April 2001. Tito and the two Russian cosmonauts Musabayev and Yuri Baturin accompanying him had spent a week as “guests” of Usachev and his two American crewmates on board the ISS. (Reuters) 1 June: Nepalese royal family slaughtered After his father, beloved King Birendra, prevented him from marrying the woman he loved, Devyani Rana, broken-hearted Nepalese Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal felt not only that his life was not worth living anymore, but also those of his father, mother and everyone else in sight. Dipendra botched his suicide after the act, and died three days later - during which he was officially the new king.

The unprecedented tragedy saw his uncle, deeply unpopular Gyanendra take over the throne and usher in a decade of political and social turmoil for the Himalayan state. Photo: Joss sticks are put in front of a group photo of Nepal's royal family during a mourning service in Hong Kong on 4 June 2001. Many Nepalese, most of them former Gurkha soldiers serving in the erstwhile British colony, attended the service. 11 June: Timothy McVeigh executed. More than six years after his heinous murder of 168 and the injury 450 people in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, the monster himself was terminated. A disaffected Iraqi War veteran, McVeigh committed the greatest act of domestic terror in the US history when he detonated a truck laden with fertiliser-based explosive on 19 April 1995, exactly two years after the FBI raided the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, killing cult leader David Koresh and about 80 of his followers.

Photo: Timothy McVeigh is escorted from the Noble County Courthouse in Perry, Oklahoma, by FBI agents and local police, 21 April 1995. McVeigh was transported to Oklahoma City for arraignment on the bombing charges. 9 September: Ahmed Shah Massoud, military commander of the Afghan Northern Alliance, is killed by an Al Qaeda-trained suicide bomber. At the time, Massoud's murder was noted as an important event by only the most-informed watchers of Afghan affairs. Little did we know then that the true context of a much larger conflict between Al Qaeda and everyone else would become gigantically visible only two days later and that Massoud's Northern Alliance would become US's main partner in the invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent ousting of the Taliban from power. Photo: People climb up to Saricha village, in the heart of the Panjshir, some 160km from Kabul, 16 September 2001 to bury Ahmad Shah Masood, after a ceremony in Jangalak. Masood, the "Lion of Panjsher", was officially declared dead on 15 September from wounds suffered in a suicide bomb attack by two men posing as Arab journalists.

He was 48. REUTERS/POOL/Alexander Nemenov. 11 September: Well, we all know what happened on that day. Main photo of the 2001 story: The World Trade Center south tower (L) bursts into flames after being struck by hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 as the north tower burns following an earlier attack by a hijacked airliner in New York City. The stunning aerial assaults on the huge commercial complex, where more than 40,000 people worked on an ordinary day, were part of a coordinated attack aimed at the nation's financial heart. They destroyed one of America's most dramatic symbols of power and financial strength and left New York reeling. FOURTH OF SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHS REUTERS/Sean Adair Photo: Deer in lights: US President George W Bush listens as White House chief of staff Andrew Card informs him of a second plane hitting the World Trade Center. Bush was conducting a reading seminar at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, 11 September 2001. Photo: An American flag flies near the base of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York. REUTERS/Peter Morgan.

Photo: Osama bin Laden is shown in this video image released by the US defence department, 13 December 2001. The translation of the videotape has Bin Laden talking about the collapse of the World Trade Center, saying "They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient." REUTERS 7 October: The US invades Afghanistan Soon after 9/11, the US and the world ascertained it was an Al Qaeda attack and the Taliban were sheltering them in Afghanistan. Military preparations for Operation Enduring Freedom began just days after the World Trade Centre towers fell; Kabul fell on 12 November 2001. Many thought the war was over, but they were, of course, wrong; the war in Afghanistan is still very much on. Photo: Pakistani men in Quetta watch television coverage of US President George W Bush announcing the airstrikes on Afghanistan 7 October 2001 10 November: China is admitted to the World Trade Organisation After 15 years of negotiations, China’s Integration into the global economy was finalised, at the WTO conference in Doha, Qatar.

Photo: The Chinese delegation listen during the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) conference in Doha, 10 November 2001. China completed a 15-year quest to join the World Trade Organisation bringing a market of 1.3 billion people into the global trading system and changing the way Beijing does business with the world. Ministers of the 142-strong world trade body stood and applauded after approving by acclamation the proposal to admit China, the world's most populous nation and until then a huge missing link in the WTO's membership. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun. 2 December: Enron files for bankruptcy It was the biggest bankruptcy to date, but not really a systemic threat to markets. However, Enron's collapse captured global attention because of the sheer avarice of its executives, the company's political influence and its “smartest guys in the room” moniker. It turned out that the company that was named six times in the row “the most innovative in the world” by Fortune magazine was not much more than an elaborate con, helped by its auditors, Anderson, which subsequently itself collapsed.

Photo: Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay is pictured in this 12 February 2002 file photo during a Congressional hearing at which he refused to testify, citing his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, on Capitol Hill. Lay, who ran the company as it grew into an energy trading giant then fell into ruins as a symbol of corporate greed, was indicted on 7 July 2004 for his role in the scandal. A federal grand jury charged Lay in a sealed indictment that contained undisclosed criminal charges for alleged misdeeds before the company fell into bankruptcy in December 2001. Behind Lay at left is his wife, Linda. Lay died while on vacation, 5th July 2006. REUTERS/Win McNamee. 11 December: Zacarias Moussaoui, indicted as a 9/11 conspirator Dubbed “the 20th conspirator”, Moussaoui changed positions several times, from claiming he was planning an attack of his own to eventually fully admitting to the charges, possibly in exchange for getting life in prison without parole and not the death penalty.

Photo: A federal judge ruled on 13 June 2002 that Zacarias Moussaoui was mentally competent to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself at trial. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she felt a report by a court-appointed psychiatrist and comments made by Moussaoui's jailers showed the French citizen was competent to proceed on his own and represent himself. Moussaoui is shown in this undated police photograph. REUTERS/Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office 13 December: Indian parliament comes under attack In an unprecedented move, and possibly inspired by the 9/11 attacks, five Islamic terrorists infiltrated the Indian parliament's compound, intent on causing as much devastation as possible. And they did. While no politicians were killed or harmed, seven members of staff were killed and 18 injured. The attack eventually led to a dramatic cooling in India-Pakistan relationships, that in 2002 threatened to turn into a full-blown war. Photo: An Indian commando takes-up position besides a plain clothed policeman near Indian parliament building in New Delhi, December 13, 2001.

A suicide squad stormed India's parliament complex on Thursday, killing at least six people in an unprecedented attack on the seat of power of the world's biggest democracy. REUTERS 22 December: Richard Reid becomes better known to the world as the “Shoe Bomber”. The season of fear was capped by the unsuccessful attempt by unlikely suspect, UK-born Richard Reid. He was stopped by passengers on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami when he tried to ignite the plastic explosive hidden in his hollowed-out shoe soles. And ever since Richard Reid, millions of innocent passengers are forced to take off their shoes when going through airport security – a fact that alone makes Reid probably the most successful terrorist in history. He is currently serving life without parole in the US. Photo: Federal prosecutors on December 23, 2001 identified a 28-year-old man who allegedly tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight as Richard C. Reid, and the FBI laboratory said his shoes contained two explosive devices.

They charged Reid in a criminal complaint with interfering with the performance of duties of flight crew members or attendants by assault and intimidation after he tried to set his shoes aflame and ignite the explosives as he sat in the coach section of a Boeing 767 on Dec. 22. Passengers and 12 crew members subdued Reid, who was carrying a British passport issued by the British Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 7. French authorities have identified him as Tariq Rashid from Sri Lanka. He was photographed while being taken from the Massachusetts State Police barracks at Logan International Airport in Boston December 22. REUTERS/Brian Snyder. Branko Brkic Branko Brkic Brkic is the founder and editor of The Daily Maverick. He has edited magazines on business and politics, technology, and wildlife. He has also published fiction and non-fiction books, most of them in Serbian. Though he has never pretended to be a reporter, his wide knowledge of politics (especially in America), combined with his experiences in a disintegrating Yugoslavia, gives him an unusual outlook on events in South Africa.

Despite the vowel-poor surname, he tells anyone who asks that he hails from Hyde Park, Johannesburg, having spent most of his adult life in South Africa. Recent columns: Millionaire spaceflier plans mission to Mars! Dennis Tito reveals project to make history by sending himself to red planet | Daily Mail Online comments A multi-millionaire investment tycoon and space travel enthusiast is said to be planning a privately funded trip to Mars. Dennis Tito, who became the first paying passenger to visit the International Space Station in 2001, is understood to be plotting a 501-day mission to the red planet in 2018 - by which time he will be 77 years old. Details of the American entrepreneur's plan for a Mars flyby emerged ahead of a news conference due to take place in Washington next week. Mission to Mars: Dennis Tito, 72, who became the world's first paying space tourist in 2001, is understood to be planning a privately-backed trip to Mars in 2018 The plans came to light in a media advisory notice published on the SpaceRef website this week.

Attributed to the Texas-based Griffins Communications Group, the advisory contained details of a 'Mission for America' capitalising on an opportunity to launch a round-trip mission to Mars in January 2018. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share An NBC News report said the notice also included details of a news conference due to take place in Washington at the end of this month, organised by the Inspiration Mars Foundation. The foundation is described as 'a newly founded non-profit organisation led by American space traveller and entrepreneur Dennis Tito'. Mr Tito, a former rocket engineer, founded Santa Monica based Wilshire Associates, a multi-billion dollar investment firm. Flying visit: Mr Tito is understood to be planning an attempt at a two-person flyby of the red planet in five years time He made history as the world's first space tourist in 2001 when he paid a reported $20million for an eight day round trip to the International Space Station on board Russia's Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft. The trip was highly controversial at the time, but six other tycoons have gone on to take similar trips in the years since.

Mr Tito's newly-fledged Inspiration Mars Foundation is 'committed to accelerating America's human exploration of space as a critical catalyst for future growth, national prosperity, new knowledge and global leadership,' according to the media advisory. Jonathan Clark, a former NASA flights surgeon who now acts as an advisor on space ventures, is also due to make an appearance at the press conference on February 27. Mr Tito is also due to give a presentation at the IEEE Aerospace Conference in Montana next month, the NBC News report said. His mission is expected to involve a flyby of Mars, without stopping, followed by a return to earth. According to an advance copy of Mr Tito's presentation seen by spaceflight consultant Jeff Foust of the NewSpace Journal, the special set of orbital circumstances required to create that kind of low-energy trajectory are expected to come about in 2018, but will not be repeated until 2031. Millionaire Space Tourists Relive Cosmic Potty Training Millionaire Space Tourists Relive Cosmic Potty Training by Megan Gannon, News Editor Share View photos A view of the toilet compartment in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station (ISS).

More NEW YORK – As microgravity makes even the most mundane tasks tricky, going to the bathroom in space can be a chore. How astronauts take care of that basic human necessity while in orbit has been a point of perennial fascination for the Earth-bound public. For a moment during a Sept. 4 talk here at the Explorers Club, two of the world's first space tourists who paid their way to the International Space Station traded stories about their space toilet training , or actually the lack of training. The Explorers Club was holding an event with former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott and his son, gaming legend Richard Garriott, perhaps best known for creating the Ultima role-playing series. They are the only American father-son team to have both gone to space. [ Photos: Space Tourist Richard Garriott, an Astronaut Legacy ] While Owen Garriott flew with NASA aboard U.S. space station Skylab and the space shuttle Columbia, his son became a spaceflyer in his own right in 2008 after using his gaming fortune to buy a multimillion-dollar ticket to the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.

Adventurer and journalist Jim Clash interviewed the duo in front of a small audience and afterwards gave the night's first question to another private spaceflyer in the room: American businessman Dennis Tito . A longtime space enthusiast, Tito made his millions in the world of finance, but was once an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Widely considered the first space tourist , Tito paid the Russians a reported $20 million for his 2001 flight to the space station. The younger Garriott earlier in the night said he used to look at Tito and think, "That's the guy that got my seat!" Garriott's long-held aspirations to go to space — first dashed when he learned his eyesight was below NASA standards — had to be postponed for a few years after his wealth took a hit in the dot-com crash.

Tito stood up to ask his question and paused before saying, "One experience that people always ask me about is, ' How do you go to the bathroom in space ?'" As the audience laughed, Owen Garriott jumped in to add: "Elementary school children, usually." But Tito continued, saying that despite his eight months of training with the Russians, he wasn't all that prepared to go the bathroom in space. "I guess the Russians really don't like to talk about these things — they have funny attitudes," Tito said. "So I got on board the station and the first thing that happened was Jim Voss, an American astronaut, gave me toilet trailing." "Now, I hadn't had toilet training in 60 years," Tito added. "So I was wondering, did you get toilet training on the ground?" Richard Garriott , who trained with the Russians, too, corroborated Tito's story. "It is hilarious because every other system — everything except the toilet — you use the exact hardware you will use in space on the ground," Garriott said.

Garriott said he had a cheat sheet for which switches to turn on for when he needed to use the space commode, the toilet does not work the same way as it does on the ground. "Gravity's actually really important for how to separate yourself from your waste and there's no discussion of that," Garriott said. His father chimed in to give a perspective from the U.S. side, and discussed his training with NASA ahead of his 60-day stint in space during the Skylab 3 mission in 1973. "We did receive proper training," the elder Garriott said. "For urination it's a very simple thing ... Urination is not a problem. Defecation is what you're concerned about." Garriott said the Skylab astronauts used a simulator toilet mounted over a camera so that they could check their positioning on the ground before using the commode in space. All three Skylab crews out also brought home all of their waste to be examined by scientists, Garriott added, remarking that they never had a single toilet failure while in flight. "One thing NASA did right," he quipped.

Space tourism Pictures - Freaking News Freaking News Advanced Photoshop Contest - 33 entries Contest Options $30 $20 Contest Directions: It's time to commercialize space - show how space tourism may (or may not) evolve, and what companies would be the pioneers to commercialize space. Contest Info Awesome is right! Having his foot just off the pattern in the ground was a nice touch. love the touch of gold and the sharp shadow I must agree, this one is very nicely done. Hello. This is the Nike Co. Oh. Hello. We would like you to advertise for us. how did u got this idea....superb...good work man..... Nike calling: Houston, we've got no problem at all. Welcome to FN, and congrats on your first entry and your first gold in one! Good show, First Entry, First Gold... Congratulations! Hey that is good .Love nike's. Good idea. Grannysarey Score: 6.571 This one was done really well. the way it was made and everything. How many people can fit into that concert? The guitar in the astronauts hands is convincing work!

Would not be surprised at all to see this as an actual MTV ad in the future. Don't sell it cheap Reg! Wow love this one. Mtv rocks. why not on the moon huh? grannysarey Score: 6.402 full view Very nice! I especially like the way you used the Starbuck's logo and the Golden Arches. The only improvement I'd say would be to correct the contour of the "Volvo". It doesn'ty look like it's wrapping right. Actually, the 7-11 and CNN might have a little bit of this problem too. PS: Only trying to help. I agree Raygregory. It's an excellent entry. But, there's also a bit of green starbuck's smear on the left & right sides of the lower ring...where the green meets the black of outer space. Like RG, I'm only trying to help. yeh cool thanx guys i will check it out Hey thanx raygregory and Janna, took your advice and fixed up the probs I think it looks a lot better I think it was just those logos wern't compatible, hope you all like it cheers Dean Wonderfully Stunning!

You did an excellent job with the repairs! Coke, Pepsi, Pepsi, Coke! When will it end? Nice entry! I didn't even notice the Starbucks until someone pointed it out...very cool. good job..lots of work in this, well done! no 1 noticed the heiniken on the top ring yet? Great idea. now they can satisfy their mac attacks.grannysarey Score: 6.306 This is superbly done. My only wish would be to make bunny more like bunny in spacesuit, and not like inflatable bunny. On 4/12/2006 4:38:00 PM, NewsMaster said: This is superbly done. My only wish would be to make bunny more like bunny in spacesuit, and not like inflatable bunny. The Duracell bunny wouldn't need a space suit! Excellent work. I love the "Tin Tin" rocket NIce job here. minor critique: the lighting on the earth doesn't match the shadows from the bunny and rocket. yep even on the moon the bunny will go and go and go with duracell.

Love it grannysarey Score: 6.182 full view Very good, but I'd prefer the original colour of the ships (looks strangely colourized) A little too much green in my opinion, looks like the green on a luminous watch. I thought space colours would be bluer. I agree with Azure. There's so much green it looks like moss is growing. A good concept and idea however. here the blur effect is very high...but it still very nice.... On 4/12/2006 6:18:42 PM, Registered said: I agree with Azure. There's so much green it looks like moss is growing. A good concept and idea however. If you see, the colour is direct complementary it makes the an image in a 3D effect. the green effect is the light came from the green planet which make the impression of the greenish light and sunlight in opposite direction. its not necessary that in all part of the universe blue is the color try make your mind see beyond your imagination.

On 4/12/2006 4:45:12 PM, hygglobert said: Very good, but I'd prefer the original colour of the ships (looks strangely colourized) The color of the ship are compliment on the environment, if you stay with the same color, it will make the ship off the scene, if you can see the ship and the can is the main subject here. On 4/13/2006 2:17:10 AM, krishhi said: here the blur effect is very high...but it still very nice.... Its not "BLUR" its "GLOW". If you full view theres no blur part of the image. In order to achieve the illusion in space, you must consider the strong source of light and the color of the light. And thats what you see. In the other hand, i think these are all your interpretation in this image. And this are my interpretation to all your comment. [Edited by User on 4/13/2006 3:39:25 AM] Nilo, I think this is an top notch image. Done so very well.

I really thought it would place #1. what a great idea. Things go better with coke even on the moon. grannysarey Score: 5.976 full view Blue liquid from yellow liquid in the bottle??? Nice first entry! I agree with WhiteRabbit though, maybe you could make the liquid in the bottle earth pattern. Welcome to FN - great first entry! I'd add some wording to the image to make it look like an advert (for whiskey?) I'm with WhiteRabbit & Baimoo...but it's a stunning image nonetheless! I agree with WhiteRabbit,Baimoo, and JannaR. The liquid in the bottle should be earth pattern. it just doesn't make sense. BUt I still think it's cool. what about the liquid in the bottle its totally different from the outer liquid ..... The liquid coming from the bottle should be more flowing, but still containing the ''earth colors'' in it. And maybe some bubbles inside the bottle? But, it is still a great picture! [Edited by User on 4/13/2006 4:46:51 AM] this is unique. refresh the Earth.

grannysarey nice first entry, its very well thought up and almost perfectly done Score: 5.664 Register to post comments and participate in contests. This contest is fueled by the following news: Andy Thomas, an Australian astronaut, is promoting a $150 million project designed to turn the Woomera rocket range into an international spaceport for tourists. He contends that the project is in Australia's best long term interest. Under his scheme, the Australian Federal Government will spend $150 million over 10 years to upgrade Woomera and build a new infrastructure. In fact, Thomas believes that by pursuing this project, Australia would be doing what the State of New Mexico in the United States of America already is undertaking. New Mexico has allocated $150 million to build a facility for space tourists near the White Sands missile range. The space tourism adventure market is worth billions of dollars and is being led by Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson, who has formed the company Virgin Galactic to send tourists into space in what he hopes is the not too distant future. There are other companies working towards advancing the space tourism industry including US based Space Adventures, which recently announced plans to build spaceports in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

In fact, Space Adventures has sent three civilians into space already, including Dennis Tito in 2001, Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and Greg Olsen in 2005. Each man paid $27 million to stay on the International Space Station for several days. Space tourism is a flight, paid from private means, into space or into a near-earth orbit with entertainment or research purposes. According to estimations, polls and studies of the public opinion, many people have a strong desire to fly into space. According to the opinion of experts, this desire, in an intermediate perspective, and can become an important source for further development of astronautics. Flights to ISS Dennis Tito was the first space tourist, who paid for the flight into space in 2001. At present, the International Space Station (ISS) is the only destination of space tourism. Flights are conducted with the help of the Russian spaceship "Soyuz" to the Russian segment of ISS. ROSCOSMOS (Federal space agency of Russian Federation) and Space Adventures are brokering the flights of tourists. Space Adventures has been in collaboration with "ROSCOSMOS" since 2001.

With the help of his company, already five tourists (data by the end of 2007) have traveled to space. The preparation of space tourists is done in "Zvezdny Gorodok" or "Star City" near Moscow and also in small aircraft, simulating the weightlessness. Even though the price tag of a visit to orbit is around 20-23 million dollars, the number of people wanting to travel to space is steadily increasing. From July 2007, the price of space travel was increased from 20 to 30-40 million dollars. Apart from this, the price of a new service was identified, the exit permission of space tourists into free space ï¿½ 15 million dollars. The possibility of property ownership in space is strictly limited to man-made space objects. The situation is totally different with the heavenly bodies. In 1980, the notorious American Denice Hope proclaimed the Lunar Republic and started selling plots on the Moon and other planets. Two legal entities, LLC "Lunar Embassy" and "Lunar Consulate", officially represented Hope's business worldwide. They offered plots on the Moon and Mars for quite "affordable prices".

On the websites of these organizations, it was claimed that Denice Hope had "lawfully registered ownership of the Moon, Mars, Venus and other celestial bodies in our solar system except the Earth and the Sun". It is reported that the "original documents ï¿½ the Property agreement, Lunar constitution and maps of the lunar surface, indicating the place, where the property is located" were issued to the buyer. By 2008, Denice Hope "sold" space land to over 120,000 people. The business of Denice Hope on extraterrestrial real estate is far from unique and not the first of its kind. A simple question, "Can one buy the moon or land on it?" with its exoticism it puts even the most experienced lawyers in a fix. It was pointless in making attempts to find an answer in the Civil Code or other legislation acts. The land on the Moon, of course, was not referred in them. The issue is solved only at the level of international space cooperation and national civil laws. The Universal Space Treaty of 1967 did not contain phrasing that literally prohibits the purchase of property on the moon and other planets.

Article II states that: "Outer Space, Including the Moon and other celestial bodies, does not belong to any nation by claim of dominion on them, by means of use or occupying nor by any other means". Hope particularly refers to this omission by justifying his claim on the moon: the agreement bans national appropriation but not private ownership. However, even a first-year student at law college knows that two prerequisites are necessary for having the right to the property of anything: first, the norms of internal civil law, regulating the reference of property and secondly, the specific legal facts, directly leading to the appearance of property rights, for instance, they can be a creation of property, a sale deed or an acceptance of inheritance etc.

Question: Which year saw the first ‘space tourist’ Dennis Tito, who paid a reported 20 million dollars to board the International Space Station?
Answer: 2001