Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space Adventures, is an entrepreneur, businessman, and aerospace engineer. He has previously worked as a NASA researcher, as a Lead Engineer for a leading aerospace software firm, and has started several companies. Most recently, he was the Founder and Executive Vice President of Starport.com, acquired in June 2000 by space.com.

At this moment, space tourist Denis Tito is experiencing a dream shared by millions--cozying up to the sight of Earth through his window. Tito leads the way in what will surely be a long line of adventure-seekers and space enthusiasts. For US$20 million, he received training, a trip to the International Space Station (ISS), and the right to say he did it first. But he gets something else in return for his money--criticism and antagonism.

Space News reported on January 15 that "senior Nasa space station officials" will meet in Moscow in February to discuss Russian plans to fly US citizen Dennis Tito to the ISS. The reason for this was given as: "Russian space officials recently informed Nasa in writing of a plan to fill the Soyuz capsule's vacant third seat with paying customers during routine missions."

So now we know - the long-sustained image that "Only extraordinarily fit people can go to space" is - A MYTH. The truth is that anyone can go - or at least anyone who would ride in an aeroplane.

In a recent piece entitled "Skeptics put Glenn, NASA under the microscope" about John Glenn's scheduled flight on the space shuttle, CNN quoted several medical researchers as saying that although Glenn is 77 his flight cannot be justified by medical research into aging. (Among other things, a single case is not statistically useful, and there is little data on his earlier short flight.) Politics and PR seem to be the real reasons behind the plan.