Hey, all you space buffs, and in particular all of you who would like to be a tourist in space, now is your chance. Space Adventures is now seeking a backup space tourist to take the place of the next designated cosmonaut Richard Garriott, in case something happens and he can’t make the trip.
The understudy will go into training and experience the process that crew members have to go through in order to get ready for spaceflights. The backup space tourist will even assist with Gariott’s mission when he flies to the International Space Station in October 2008.
The understudy will be given the distinction of being a fully-trained cosmonaut and will be named as an official part of the crew. For those who have $3 million to spend for cosmonaut training and a trip to Star City, Russia this may be the event of a lifetime.
And, if you think as a backup to the main space tourist, you don’t have a shot at going into space yourself, you would be wrong. It has already happened. The first female in space, Anousheh Ansari was a backup to Daisuke Enomoto who had to bow out for medical reasons.