Titanic Filmmaker To Ride Russian Rocket

[Ronald_Barbour]

First Tito, then 'Titanic' man?

By Tim Friend and Dan Vergano, USA TODAY


By Mikhail Grachyev, Reuters

U.S. space tourist and Californian millionaire Dennis Tito tries on his space suit on April 17 at Baikonur cosmodrome.

Filmmaker James Cameron is negotiating with the Russian Space Agency for a flight to the International Space Station, a Russian rocket ministry official says.

The news comes two days before Los Angeles financier Dennis Tito is scheduled to cash in his $20 million ticket to ride a Russian rocket to the station.

Tito's trip had been derided by NASA officials as risky, but it has sparked nationalist feelings among Russians. Tito is set to blast off Saturday from the same pad in Kazakhstan that sent the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space in 1961. But the space shuttle Endeavour, which was to leave the space station Saturday, might remain two extra days because of computer problems. That could delay the Russian launch.

The Russian official, who asked not to be named, said Cameron is expected to sign a deal within two or three weeks, depending on the outcome of Tito's trip. The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who traveled to the bottom of the Atlantic aboard Russian submersibles to film portions of the movie Titanic, would be required to spend the next year to 18 months in training as a full cosmonaut before going into space aboard a Soyuz rocket built specifically for his mission. The training should satisfy new requirements for non-professional astronauts being developed jointly by the Russian Space Agency and NASA.

Repeated calls to Cameron's offices at Light Star Productions were not returned.

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin says Cameron has discussed with him the possibility of traveling to the space station, but he says he is unaware of Cameron's negotiations with the Russians. "There is no way he is doing any training with us," Goldin says. "NASA is not engaged in this. We have just been through this with Dennis Tito. We are saying no non-professionals are going to space until we finalize this protocol and we are notified."

Documents obtained by USA TODAY appear to show that Cameron has ambitious plans to conduct a spacewalk — the first by a non-career astronaut — and film a series of documentaries, a 3D-IMAX movie and a series of television programs for the Fox Network.

The Russian official's company, RKK Energia, built Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, and is Russia's biggest rocket builder. He says Cameron would most likely be delivered into space by the end of 2002. He says the Russians would seek cooperation for Cameron's journey from NASA to avoid the problems generated from its decision to send Tito to the space station.

"Whether they agree or not, we can do it by ourselves," he says. "But NASA participation would be very, very much appreciated. In the sense of this project, it should be international. But we have had no discussions with them (NASA)."

The Tito file

• Personal data: 60 years old, 5' 4" tall, 140 pounds.

• Home: Los Angeles.

• Family: Divorced, two grown sons.

• Auto: Ferrari F355 Spider.

• Work history: In 1964, Tito became an aerospace engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. In 1972, he founded investment company Wilshire Associates and developed the Wilshire 5000 stock index.

• Quote: "It's not a holiday. This is the dream of my life."



Tito, who once worked for NASA, made a fortune from an investment firm he founded. He first contracted with Russia to go aboard the Mir space station. He got an upgrade after Russia allowed Mir to fall out of orbit in March after 15 years in service.

NASA's Michael Greenfield says the danger of Tito pulling the wrong lever and damaging the station is low. But the space agency is concerned that he is insufficiently trained for an emergency.

Russian space officials insist that Tito has received the same training for living in space that professionals get. They say his main tasks are to stay out of the crew's way, follow general regulations and know how to act in an emergency.

"The tourist Tito will simply sit and watch," says Russian Aerospace Agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko.

At NASA, feelings are still a bit raw about future "non-professional" astronauts. "It will be a cold day in hell before the Russians make another unilateral decision" to launch a space tourist, Goldin says.

But former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, supports Tito's trip. "I'm all for space tourism," Aldrin says.

© Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

[berlioz]

.... and welcome aboard. My name is Hal. For your safety and convenience, please listen carefully to the following Safety Demonstration.

Our ship today is fitted with... no... Emergency Exits. These are located... nowhere. In the event of having to make an Emergency Landing, please follow the directions given to you by the Crew. Reading "Martian in 10 Minutes" might be useful. In the event of loss of cabin pressure, panic. It won't help, but we don't have any better suggestions. If any kind of masks drop-down from anywhere, it probably means the ship is being boarded by Star-Troopers - just remember, you never even HEARD of Princess Leia, right? In the event of having to evacuate the craft, a lifejacket is provided under your seat. Since the nearest water is on Bellman's Star, 16 Light Years to your right, please wait until you are about 2-3 Light Years away from splashdown before inflating it.

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Shortly after take-off, Cabin Crew will be coming-around with a selection of drinks, after which we will be serving lunch. Today's lunch is fish-paste in a toothpaste tube, followed by dehydrated apricot puree, also in a toothpaste tube. If you have ordered a special diet, please make yourself known to the crew, as they are in need of a good laugh at your expense.

There is a choice of viewing on your seat-back video-screen - today's inflight movies are "Apollo 13", "2001 - A Space Odyssey", "Airplane II" or "Solaris". Oh, and some cute animated short about a pig. The other screen over there is NOT the inflight video, please DON'T fiddle with the controls to get rid of the pingy-looking thing in search of re-runs of "Ally McBeal".

Using cd-players, mobile telephones, or other devices will reduce your chances to even lower than they are already, frankly.

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Now please fasten your safety belts, and return your seat-backs to the horizontal position.

Cabin Crew - doors to Automatic...


- mb

[Ronald_Barbour]

Dear Neil:

And this is First Class!!! Just imagine what the folks in "Tourist Class" are putting up with!!!

RONBO

[berlioz]

>> Just imagine what the folks in "Tourist Class" are putting up with!!! <<

I know, those sacks of potatoes are really uncomfortable to sit on after the first 4-5 days....

- mb