In these hours, the old and new space exploits are overshadowed by the return of Samantha Cristoforetti and the remaining crew of the Minerva mission, consisting of three NASA astronauts as well as Astrosamantha.
The landing of the Dragon shuttle, after almost 6 months in the International Space Station, is scheduled for 11.41 pm (Italian time) on Thursday 13 October.
And a there are those who go to the Space Station for important scientific purposes, there are also those who go there for recreational purposes.
Yes, because a series of billionaires with a passion for space started the so-called space tourism last year. The primacy is contended by Richard Branson and Elon Musk.
Branson, on July 11, 2021, actually holds the temporal record. But Musk can boast the fact that, with the Inspiration4 mission on September 15 of the same year, he had the first crew made up entirely of non-professionals reach Space.
Then there is the story of Dennis Tito, the very first space tourist, who among the stars is so at ease that he wants to repeat the experience.
Dennis Tito back in space
In reality, Dennis Tito also holds the real record: he was the first space tourist to have reached the International Space Station.
And now try again thanks to SpaceXwhich also provided NASA and ESA with the Dragon shuttle (renamed Freedom by the crew) for the aforementioned Minerva mission.
But who is Dennis Tito? When was he first in space, and how is he going to get back there?
Who is Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito is a New York entrepreneur born in 1940, who worked as a scientist for NASA.
And looking at Richard Branson with a sly smile. Because the founder of Virgin Group is defined as the first space tourist only because he inaugurated the era, or rather the fashion, of this tourism. But Tito preceded him by 20 years.
Dennis Tito’s first time in Space
Yes why Dennis Tito was the first space tourist to reach the ISS, even in 2001.
Tito, paying 20 million dollars, joined the Russian mission Soyuz TM-32, remaining in orbit in the spring of 2001 for 7 days, 22 hours and 4 minutes.
The enterprise was marked by the primacy of Tito and by a less honorable detail, made public by Russian television, who knows if for a “political” spite against the former opponents of the Cold War: the American businessman had suffered from nausea during his stay in Space .
Dennis Tito, it will be discovered years after that mission, had dreamed of reaching Space since he was a boy, after the feat of Yuri Gagarin.
In fact, Tito recently stated: “When I flew in 2001 it wasn’t because I wanted to become famous by traveling in space. It was a goal that I had already set myself in 1961 ”.
The Space Adventures agency
After Tito’s feat in 2001, six more billionaires flew into space on the Soyuz shuttle. And all thanks to the Space Adventures agency, an American company founded in 1998, which in fact organizes tourist trips a little out of the way: at the International Space Station.
But the last sightseeing flight developed by Space Adventures dates back to 2009, after which the Shuttle program was stopped.
Dennis Tito back in Space with SpaceX
Now Dennis Tito is a lively 82 years old, who can benefit from what – we said – is in effect the first era of space tourism.
Tito’s second mission is largely shrouded in mystery. It is known with certainty that the entrepreneur will travel aboard Elon Musk’s Starship. And that his stay in space will last a week.
Neither the place nor the date of take-off are known. We are aware that Dennis Tito “will travel to the Moon, fly within 200 kilometers of its surface and complete an entire journey around it before safely returning to Earth.”
A 30 million dollar trip
SpaceX has made it known, in a note published on the official website Wednesday, October 12, that thethe mission will bring 12 tourists into orbit. Dennis Tito and his wife Akiko took the first two places.
The company then announced that “the Tito’s have joined the mission to contribute to SpaceX’s long-term goal of advancing human spaceflight and help make life multiplanetary.”
It seems that each ticket on this future mission costs about $ 30 million. And yet, one can bet, the other ten places available will also end up being occupied.