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Boy Bands in Outer Space? By Mitra Thompson, TheWorldJournal.com 
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You've sold millions of albums, toured the world, won a truckload of awards, and dated more celebrities than Julia Roberts. What's a pop star left do? Space travel, of course. Lance Bass, one fifth of American boy band 'N Sync, is hoping to be on board a Russian Soyuz rocket ship this November as part of his "lifelong dream" of space travel. Bass, 22, attended space camp as a child, but will need to undergo months of intensive training at a Moscow camp before being ready for lift off. The company behind Bass's dream is MirCorp, a commercial space exploration company based in the Netherlands. MirCorp is currently in discussion with Bass as well as the Russian Space Agency Rosaviakosmos to sign a contract for the trip, which will be part of a television special. It will also need the backing of the five International Space Station (ISS) partners: the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan and Europe, before Bass will be guaranteed a seat on board the rocket. Rosaviakosmos spokesperson Sergei Gorbunov has recently denied that any discussions have taken place. He also pointed out that securing a flight is a serious matter, saying "We are not a shop selling flights. There is a hard preparation process and it is not just about coming up and buying a flight." But MirCorp and Bass's entourage remain optimistic about his chances. The 'N Sync star is not the only musician who has expressed an interest in space travel. Russian pop icons Na-Na have been trying to secure their place in space travel history for several months now. The four members of the boy band passed a medical exam late last year, the results of which determined they were fit to fly into orbit. The exam cost their producer Barry Alibasov a cool $40,000. He now needs another $80 million to send the band into space: the average cost of a single ticket is $20 million U.S. The pop stars are hoping to follow in the footsteps of American millionaire Dennis Tito, who flew with the Russians last year, and South African Mark Shuttleworth, who will be blasting off this April. Both are reported to have paid the hefty $20 million price tag for the trip. There has been some controversy over the ethics of space tourism. The Russians, partially due to a desperate need for funding, are strong supporters of the idea. "We believe firmly that the excitement and beauty of [space] should not be limited to a handful of professionals," MirCorp said on their website. Getting the necessary approval from the ISS partners could, MirCorp believes, "introduce a new generation to the excitement of space exploration." The U.S., arguably the most powerful ISS partner, might just disagree. When Dennis Tito was campaigning for his right to a space flight at the end of 2000, NASA officials did their utmost to discourage Tito and the Russian Space Agency from letting the flight take place. NASA questioned the safety of bringing untrained non-professionals with poor Russian communication skills on board the spaceship, and NASA administrator John Goldin worried about the fairness of giving preference to rich tycoons over astronauts who had trained for years to go into space. If Rosaviakosmos agrees and a contract is signed, Lance Bass will be the youngest person to ever visit space. © March 15, 2002 |
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