Space Tourist II Loves The View
A South African entrepreneur arrived at the international space station on Saturday for an eight-day, seven-night cruise that cost him $20 million.
Mark Shuttleworth, only the second person to buy his way into space and his contient's first space traveler, pulled up in a Russian capsule piloted by his Russian commander, ending a two-day journey that began on a launch pad in Kazakhstan. The space station's bell heralded their arrival.
Shuttleworth smiled broadly as he floated into the space station. He immediately was embraced by the three residents, one after the other.
A few hours later, South African President Thabo Mbeki called to congratulate the first African citizen in space.
"It's amazingly roomy," Shuttleworth told the president. "Although it's very, very large, we have to move very carefully. As you can see around us, there are tons of very precious and very sophisticated equipment. We hope that we will be good guests."
As for Thursday's liftoff, "I had moments of terror, moments of sheer upliftment and exhilaration," Shuttleworth said. "I have truly never seen anything as beautiful as the Earth from space. I can't imagine anything that could surpass that."
The 28-year-old businessman and space tourist - dubbed an Afronaut back home - has generated huge excitement in South Africa.
"The whole continent is proud that at last we have one of our own people from Africa up in space," said Mbeki, taking part in Freedom Day celebrations.
"It's a proud Freedom Day because of what you've done," Mbeki added.
Shuttleworth, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori accomplished their primary job with the successful docking of their Soyuz spacecraft, which will now serve as the space station's lifeboat. They will leave next Saturday night in the Soyuz that has been attached to the 250-mile-high complex for the past six months.
At Russian Mission Control near Moscow, Shuttleworth's parents and brother Bradley watched the docking on a giant screen. "The launch was horrifying for us ... and this docking was wonderful to watch," said his father, Rick Shuttleworth.
"It was wonderful to see him looking so well," Shuttleworth's mother, Ronelle, said. "He communicated with us yesterday and said he was feeling wonderful."
"We are carrying a cellphone with us -- the only thing we asked was that he phone us from space," his father Rick said.
Inside space station Alpha, the two Americans and one Russian who have been living there since December were delighted to have more guests. They said goodbye April 17 to seven visiting shuttle astronauts who spent a week doing extensive construction work.
"It's always great to see new faces," American astronaut Carl Walz said in welcoming Shuttleworth and his crewmates.
The visit by this Soyuz crew should be much more relaxing. And the visit by another tourist should be much less taxing for everyone.
Almost exactly one year ago, California money manager Dennis Tito became the world's first paying space tourist, courtesy of the Russians. NASA opposed Tito's trip, saying he would interfere with space station work and possibly even endanger the crew. The Russians prevailed, however, and the rift between the two countries' space programs lasted for months.
To avoid further conflict, NASA and the space agencies of Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan established criteria for future space station visitors. Shuttleworth met all the guidelines and went through eight months of cosmonaut training in Russia and one week of instruction at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Because of his U.S. training, Shuttleworth will have more leeway aboard the space station than Tito did.
In a pre-launch interview with CBS News, Shuttleworth said he hopes to fly again someday as a real tourist.
"I very much do believe it's going to become much more widely accessible and I look forward to flying again one day as a tourist," he said. "I look forward to flying again one day just to relax and have someone else fly the craft and let me just look out of the window with some good friends and enjoy what I believe to be one of the most extraordinary experiences available to man.
"I think we're on the cusp of that transition. The critical next step is the development, the private development, of launch and return capability. And we don't have that.
"I don't believe the Soyuz or the shuttle are particularly fit means to open up access to space for the public. They were designed and are optimized for very specific, highly professional types of operation. But I think we're close to that transitional point and I think whoever makes that breakthrough will open a floodgate to an enormous new market."
Shuttleworth, who made his fortune off the Internet and negotiated his ride with the Russians, is conducting several science experiments, including one for AIDS research. He wore a white patch with an embroidered red ribbon on his blue cosmonaut uniform to symbolize the fight against AIDS.
He also plans to chat with South African schoolchildren via ham radio over the next week. Long before his flight, he created the "Hip To Be Square" campaign - or Hip2B2 - to promote science and math education in South Africa.
At 28, he is among the world's younger space travelers.
His Soyuz commander, Gidzenko, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is making a return visit; he lived on the space station for 4 1/2 months in 2000 and 2001. Vittori, a former test pilot who grew up near Rome, is making his first space trip.
The Expedition 4 astronauts, working their 142nd day in space,
were launched to the station in early December. They plan to return
to Earth on June 11 aboard a space shuttle that will deliver the
station's fifth full-time crew. As of Satirday, the station has been
permanently manned for 541 days, according to CBS News space consultant William Harwood.
CBS News Space Consultant William Harwood has covered America's space program full time for more than 15 years, focusing on space shuttle operations, planetary exploration and astronomy. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood provides up-to-the-minute space reports for CBS News and regularly contributes to Spaceflight Now and The Washington Post.