Aug 9 2001
From The Space Library
NASA and the Russian Space Agency agreed to allow the transport of space tourists to the ISS. Although the two agencies did not sign a formal agreement on the matter, media reported that they had agreed to the procedures and standards that spaceflight participants~ individuals who are not professional astronauts or cosmonauts~ must satisfy when they visit the space station. NASA and the Russian Space Agency agreed that such visitors must demonstrate foreign language ability, undergo specified physical training, and pass a personal suitability test. The issue of spaceflight participants had become a source of contention between NASA and the Russian Space Agency after American businessman Dennis A. Tito had paid the Russian Space Agency to transport him to the ISS in April 2001. (Peter Baker, “U.S., Russia Agree To Allow ‘Space Tourists’,” Washington Post, 10 August 2001; ESA, Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, “Principles Regarding Processes and Criteria for Selection, Assignment, Training and Certification of ISS (Expedition and Visiting) Crewmembers” (statement of criteria, Paris, November 2001), http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/isscrewcriteria.pdf (accessed 5 November 2008)
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